Presentation in VII Annual International Conference at IIM Bangalore on 18th Aug 2012

1. From Landless to land owners: opening up
opportunities
Sibabrata Choudhury & Sanjoy Patnaik
VII International Conference on
Public Policy & Management, IIM Bangalore
18th August 2012
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2. Co-relation between landlessness and poverty
“Secure access to land and other natural resources is a direct factor
in the alleviation of hunger and rural poverty. Rural landlessness is
often the best predictor of poverty and hunger: the poorest are
usually landless or land-poor. Inadequate rights of access to land and
other natural resources, and insecure tenure of those rights, often
result in extreme poverty and hunger.”
(http://www.fao.org/nr/tenure/lt-home/en/)
“Millions of poor rural people depend on farming for their livelihoods,
but they control very little land…redistributing land to small scale
farmers can do much to reduce their poverty…land security can
mean food security”
(http://www.ifad.org/media/pack/land.htm)
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3. Secure land rights fundamental for development
“Rural poverty in India has its roots in the absence of access to land.
Secure access rights to land are also an imperative for food security.”
- Land Rights and ownership in Orissa, UNDP, 2008
“Land tenure security – for both women and men – is just one step on
the road to reducing rural poverty. Strengthening women’s land
rights not only contributes to gender equality, it also improves food
security and reduces poverty for the whole family.”
- Land Tenure Security and poverty reduction, IFAD, 2012
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4. Transition from landless to land owners…
• Secured rights over Social and political
land triggers number recognition
of benefits Household food
security and economic
– Increased access to gains
government services
Homestead
development
– Access to credit
– Home-based food Government
extension services
production
– Improved family Social security
nutrition
– Definite economic and Land
allocation
social benefits

5. Background and Context
• Post independence, Government of Odisha
introduced a number of progressive land reforms
legislations that
– Stop tribal land transfer through LT regulation 2, 1956
– influenced land ceiling and created windows of surplus
land distribution to the landless (1974)
– Sharecroppers’ rights (1974)
– Land to the landless through regularizing encroachment of
govt land (1972)

6. Government Response…enumeration and re-
enumeration
• Enumeration of landless in 2004-05: 2.49 lakh
homesteadless and 4.45 lakh landless households
• Vasundhara scheme launched in 2005-06 to provide
homestead land upto 4 cents (now 10) to
homesteadless families - 2.75 lakh families allotted
homestead land between 2005-06 and 2010-11
• Land restoring campaign was launched in 2007 in the
form of Mo Jami Mo Diha
• Circular for re-enumeration in 2011, 2.36 lakh
families enlisted as homesteadless (Revenue Deptt)

7. Background and Context
• Implementation
bottlenecks in the form
of lack of capacity
restricted landless
families getting the
fruits of progressive
legislations;
– Land allotted but patta
not issued
– Allotted land cultivated
by previous owner
– Land not suitable for
cultivation

8. Land allocation using CRPs in Odisha
CRP Model Pilot
Status Results shared results
piloted in 3
assessment with Govt. and Govt.
districts
scale-up

9. Why land to the landless couldn’t succeed
1. Political and administrative “intent”
– Land allocation ceased to be a priority area for revenue
staff
2. Fairly ineffective monitoring system
3. Shortage of field level revenue staffs;
– No/very limited household survey to identify
homesteadless/landless families
– no field verification and use of old records
– Incorrect figures as regards actual number of
homesteadless/landless families
4. Capacity gaps – inaccurate methods

10. Local solution: Local capacity model for allocating land
to the landless
• Community Resource
Person
– local literate youth
– selected jointly by the
community and the local
revenue offical
– trained to provide
additional capacity for
identification of
homesteadless / landless
households

11. Process flowchart of land allocation through CRPs
Field
Phase I Data Phase II Identification
CRP selection Verification & Patta
training Collection training of landless
Camp Court
Household list, Triangulation –
land database matching
from RoR, FRA household list
allotees, village with the
validation landholding

12. Key features of land allocation using CRPs
• CRP creates the base information on exact number of
homesteadless (in about 2 months)
• CRP does not tamper with the existing revenue
process
• With a role in each step, the CRP works closely with
the revenue official, beneficiary and the community,
resulting in greater transparency in the process
• While the CRPs move the process, the field level
revenue official play a key role in CRP selection,
training and day-to-day functioning

13. Key features of land allocation using CRPs
• CRP helps in the non-technical aspects of the land
allocation process
• At each level of data collection validation is done
with the community
• Community involvement in the process in
identification and land allotment results in
greater transparency and collective decision
• Identification of land (free from encroachment)
that can be settled in favour of the landless
• Land database created for the village with
updated information from RoR and FRA list

14. Scaling the local capacity model
• The CRP model was scaled with a Government
programme - OTELP;
– The programme being implemented in the tribal areas with
complicated land situations
– Though land was a priority for the project, not much had
been done on the issue,
– The programme had the resources to hire CRPs and had the
necessary human resource to facilitate/oversee the CRPs
– Easier to convince why the programme should invest on
land allocation using a model that has been piloted
• Pilot had identified some land settlement challenges
that a Govt. programme could resolve

15. Results so far…collaboration with OTELP
• OTELP and RDI collaborated to ensure land to the
landless using CRPs in 1042 villages, 30 blocks, 7
districts
– 550 CRPs are engaged in 1042 villages who have identified
over 30,000 landless families
– Identification of landlessness is over in 978 villages (93%)
– Field verification over in 485 villages (46%)
– Patta distribution completed for 139 villages
• Titles to 8,844 households, including 4,479 for cropland (includes
both revenue and forest land patta)

16. Scaling opportunities
• Government of Odisha has decided to scale the
model to 118 tribal sub-plan (TSP) blocks with the
engagement of CRPs/Bhumi Sanjojaks
– To cover 18,000 villages in next 5 years in three overlapping
phases during the 12th Five Year Plan
– The programme is expected to touch 1.2 million households -
about quarter of a million landless are expected to get land
titles
– Post allocation, the CRPs will work with block administration for
homestead development/livelihoods convergence
• Land allocation programme in collaboration with
National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM)

17. Key features of the programme
• Local youth help the revenue officials in
identification of the landless
• Engagement with District Administration right from
the planning phase to programme implementation
• Advocacy engagements
– Size of plot
– Settlement procedures
• Collaborative approach
– OTELP - District Administration – RDI - Field NGOs -
Community

18. Concluding remarks
• Third party – private individual can be effective in
land allocation for the poor, an example of Govt. –
Non Govt. – Community collaboration
• Transparent method of identification of landless and
land allocation process
• Commitment from Government has been crucial in
the land allocation programme not only in initial
piloting but also in scaling up
• Role of CRP can go much beyond land allocation…for
livelihoods convergence and other inclusive
programmes

19. Do we have to address the land rights issue?
What it really means for the poor?
“I cannot express the pain
and humiliation when
asked to vacate the land.
All through my life, I
searched for an address –
a place for my own
identity.”

20. Do we have to address the land rights issue?
What it really means for the poor?
“Though we always
wanted to have a patta to
our land, but did not know
how to go about it. Our
Sonu (the CRP) helped us
in getting it.”

21. Thanks for your attention
sibabratac@rdiland.org
sanjoyp@rdiland.org
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