Nagesh Bhushan A new paper titled “ Land Inequality in India: Nature, History, and Markets” from the World Inequality Lab examines the underlying causes of land inequality in India by analysing data from over 270,000 villages. The researchers categorise the drivers of ownership disparities into geographic suitability , historical institutions , and market access . Findings reveal that British colonial rule and the zamindari landlord system created lasting inequities, while areas with high agricultural productivity paradoxically suffer from greater landlessness. Proximity to towns and transport networks further correlates with increased inequality, although structural transformation —the shift toward non-agricultural work—can mitigate the influence of geography. Furthermore, the study identifies a complex relationship between social hierarchy and land access, noting that a high pre...
By Nagesh Bhushan Reserved for whom? India's women's-quota bill is a genuine step forward. But for the country's largest social group, it may make things worse. HYDERABAD | Apr 2026 I n September 2023 India's parliament passed the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam — the 106th Constitutional Amendment — reserving one-third of all seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women. The law was widely celebrated. It was also designed with a deliberate brake: reservations would not take effect until after a new census and a fresh delimitation of constituencies, meaning 2029 at the earliest. Now the central government is reportedly considering removing that brake and implementing the quotas immediately. The cheering, at least from one large constituency, has stopped. Other Backward Classes (OBCs) — a heterogeneous agglomeration of castes accounting for roughly half of India's population and a quarter of its current parliamentary representatives — have reason to worry. T...