Land Development Ordinance

Land Development Ordinance
State Council of Ceylon
Long title An Ordinance to provide for the development and distribution of state lands
Citation	Ordinance No. 19 of 1935
Territorial extent	British Ceylon
Enacted by	State Council of Ceylon
Enacted	1935
Repeals
Land Development (Amendment) Act, No. 11 of 2022
Status: In force

Land Development Ordinance of Ceylon (1935) (LDO) was a foundational piece of legislation enacted by the British colonial government of Ceylon to regulate the allocation, use, and development of state lands. Designed primarily to support agricultural colonization, especially in the Dry Zone, the ordinance laid the legal groundwork for peasant resettlement schemes, reshaping land ownership and social dynamics in rural Ceylon.

Background

The Land Development Ordinance emerged as a legislative response to deep-rooted structural issues in Ceylon's rural agrarian economy. Beginning in the early 19th century, British colonial policies—particularly the Waste Lands Ordinance led to the systematic dispossession of peasant communities, especially in the Kandian Provinces, historically dominated by Sinhalese cultivators. These ordinances declared large areas of communally held land as "waste" and transferred them to the state based on colonial definitions of "uncultivated" land. This facilitated the expansion of the plantation economy, primarily for coffee, tea, rubber, and coconut, enabling European planters to acquire vast tracts of land at nominal prices.

As a result, traditional Sinhalese peasant lands were expropriated and reclassified as crown lands, disrupting customary land tenure systems such as ande (sharecropping) and thattumaru (land rotation). Many Kandyan villagers were reduced to landless laborers or pushed into marginal areas, triggering widespread rural impoverishment and a breakdown of village-based subsistence agriculture.

The colonial emphasis on export-oriented plantation production severely neglected the cultivation of food crops, particularly rice, which was essential to the local diet and cultural identity. By the early 20th century, Ceylon was heavily reliant on imported rice, while the Sinhalese majority faced increasing landlessness, unemployment, and economic marginalization. These grievances formed the backdrop to growing agrarian agitation and calls for land reform. Reformers and nationalist politicians, especially those in the State Council of Ceylon, advocated for redistributing crown lands to landless Sinhalese peasants a policy viewed as both social justice and national development. The Donoughmore Constitution of 1931, which introduced limited self-rule, created the political opportunity to pursue these reforms. Within this context, the Land Development Ordinance No. 19 of 1935 was enacted to legalize the state's authority to resettle peasants and develop the Dry Zone through irrigation-based colonization.

Key provisions

The ordinance provided the legal authority for the state to alienate crown lands to landless individuals under specified conditions. Key features included:

• Permits and Grants: Lands were distributed initially through permits (temporary cultivation rights) and later converted to grants (permanent ownership) after fulfilling cultivation conditions.
• Allotment Size: Land parcels typically ranged from 2.5 to 5 acres, suitable for subsistence farming.
• Inalienability: Lands could not be sold, mortgaged, or leased without government approval, ensuring long-term use for agriculture rather than speculation.
• Inheritance Rules: Only one heir could inherit land to prevent subdivision and preserve economic viability.
• Administrative Supervision: The Land Commissioner’s Department was created to administer the program and ensure compliance.

Impact on food security

A central objective of the Land Development Ordinance was to enhance national food security, particularly in response to the colonial-era neglect of food crops. By resettling peasant farmers in the irrigable Dry Zone, the ordinance enabled the revival of traditional irrigation systems and the establishment of self-sufficient agricultural communities. Colonization schemes like Gal Oya and Minipe significantly expanded rice cultivation, contributing to Sri Lanka’s shift toward rice self-sufficiency by the 1970s. These schemes were later aligned with the Green Revolution, introducing high-yield varieties and chemical inputs.

However, challenges remained:

• Soil infertility and poor drainage in some areas.
• Settler unfamiliarity with intensive irrigation practices.
• Limited crop diversification, resulting in vulnerability to price and climate shocks.

Despite these issues, the ordinance marked a turning point in agrarian policy, moving the country closer to national food sovereignty and reducing reliance on food imports.

Criticism and Limitations

• Gender Exclusion: The one-heir inheritance rule excluded most women from land ownership.
• Restricted Land Use: Inalienability limited land as an economic asset and constrained farmers' financial autonomy.
• Bureaucratic Inefficiency: Corruption, favoritism, and administrative delays marred land allocation.
• Environmental Impact: Deforestation, soil degradation, and human–wildlife conflict emerged in areas of unplanned expansion.
• With colonization schemes were heavily Sinhalese-dominated, Tamil politicians and parties viewed these resettlements as state-sponsored demographic change, undermining Tamil territorial claims, contributing to the escalation of Sri Lanka's post-independence ethnic conflict.

Legal evolution and related legislation

The LDO set a precedent for subsequent land legislation:

• State Lands Ordinance No. 8 of 1947: Clarified state authority over crown lands.
• Crown Lands Encroachment Ordinance: Addressed illegal occupation of public land.
• Agrarian Services Acts (1950s–1980s): Protected tenant farmers and promoted equitable land use.

These acts built upon the foundational logic of the LDO and remain integral to Sri Lanka’s land governance structure.

Legacy

The Land Development Ordinance of 1935 left a profound and lasting legacy on Sri Lanka’s land tenure, rural economy, and national politics. The LDO formalized the state's authority to redistribute and regulate land, creating the legal foundation for postcolonial land policy and programs like the Mahaweli Development Scheme. It established the Land Commissioner’s Department, which remains a central body in land administration. The ordinance created a new class of settler-farmers, dependent on the state for land, irrigation, and services. These peasants became politically loyal constituents of ruling parties, reinforcing the state’s role as a provider of welfare. The use of the ordinance to resettle Sinhalese populations in traditionally Tamil regions contributed to demographic shifts and deepened ethnic polarization. These changes became a flashpoint in the civil war, with Tamil political movements citing colonization as evidence of majoritarian hegemony. Poorly planned settlement led to the clearing of forests and wetlands, contributing to soil erosion, biodiversity loss, and conflicts with wildlife—problems that persist in Sri Lanka’s Dry Zone. Many of the ordinance’s core features—non-transferability, permit-based allocation, and gender-biased inheritance—continue to affect modern land policy. Efforts to reform the LDO have faced resistance due to its embedded role in rural livelihoods and political structures.