Land reforms can be seen as one of the most important policy reforms in the post-independence period. The land reforms aimed at creating an egalitarian society by re-distributing the ownership of agricultural land that was the most important social and economic asset in rural areas.Karnataka is one of the few states in India that showed substantial interest in implementing Land Reforms. In reviewing the implementation of land reforms legislation in the state, Abdul Aziz mentions in the forward of the book “Land Reforms in India - Volume 4: Karnataka - Promises Kept and Missed” published in 1997, that the state showed “tremendous political will and administrative ability to implement the law, especially, relating to tenancy reform”. However, in the same paragraph, he also adds that “In matters of ceiling on agricultural land holdings, the state was unable to show exciting achievements and in handling Common Property Resources, the state lacked a definite and durable policy perspective” (Aziz & Krishna 1997, emphasis added). These words speak of the challenges in the road ahead for land reforms in Karnataka, and particularly in the policy regarding management of common lands.