Securing the land rights of poor and women through provision of legal services to address their land problems Naveen Kumar World Bank’s Land and Poverty Conference Responsible Land Governance- Towards an Evidence-Based Approach March 22, 2017

Presentation Outline Introduction Central and State Governments’ initiatives to address land related issues of the poor Land related problems in Andhra Pradesh/ Telangana Objectives and methodology of the study Findings and policy recommendations Conclusion and way forward

Introduction 101 Mn rural household (56%) do not have any land in India (SECC, 2011) Even those who have land, lack secure rights to land Land related issues and disputes are particularly severe in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana SECC-Socio-economic caste census

Name in State Land Records Secure Land Rights? Patta (Land Title) Possession Name in State Land Records 4

Central and State Governments’ Initiatives National Level Ministry of Rural Development ‘Advisory to State Governments’ – to provide legal assistance to the poor (GoI, 2013). Draft National Land Reforms Policy – to resolve land problems including litigations (GoI, 2013). ‘Committee on State Agrarian Relations and Unfinished Task of Land Reforms on Land Dispute Resolution’ (GoI, 2008) National Legal Services Authority To provide free Legal Services to the weaker sections of the society. State Level Committee to resolve land disputes, to facilitate improved implementation of the land laws (GoAP, 2006) Launched a land access programme (Indira Kranthi Patham-IKP) in 2004 (Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty, 2004) Committee to study and analyze the existing problems To help landless or vulnerable poor families and help them resolve land problems, (IKP)

Extent of Land Related Issues in Andhra Pradesh & Telangana Land problems (in No.) - 2.16 Mn Land area (in Acre) - 2.41 Mn SCs & STs families (in No.) - 1.46 Mn (23% of total households) (SERP, 2013) 40% of households have land problems 100-200 land problems in each village, depending on size and population. (Kumar, 2013) Land problem here means: (1) not having document for land acquired from various sources (inheritance, partition, etc.); (2) errors in land documents; (3) disputes (survey, boundary, etc.) elated with land; (4) possession not show for the land given under state/ national programme SERP – Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty

Objectives of this study To gain a deeper understanding of the most common types of land problems faced by the poor To identify the typology of legal service needs of the poor, particularly of SCs, STs and women, to resolve their land problems. To identify the bottlenecks in justice delivery systems. Provide recommendations to the relevant government officials informed by our research. 7

Methodology Study Area: Warangal district, Telangana State. 13 villages in 5 mandals from 3 divisions Study Design: Mixed methods study Land Cases: 13 most prevalent land problems selected from a total of 70 problems identified in SERP 2010-12 study. Sample size: 100 land dispute cases (50 male and 50 female), comprising 66 pending and 34 resolved cases. Data collection: Quantitative: Survey questionnaire comprising of questions on socio-economic and demographic characteristics; land holdings; land problem; land legal awareness, etc. Qualitative: Semi-structured IDIs with revenue officials (21); IKP Paralegal (10); Legal coordinators (3); Neighbour of each respondent and case studies VROs (13); MROs (5); RDO (3) 8

Types of Land problems Not having documents Errors in documents For land assigned to Tribals Survey Boundary Pahani 1B register and PPB and TD Title given under Forest Rights Act Inheritance Family partition Registered sale deed Plain paper transaction 1B certificate/ Occupants Rights certificate/ 38 E Assignment Patta ORC Not having documents Errors in documents Possession not shown Disputes 9

Socio-economic profile of the study population Age-Group Caste-Group Education Occupation 10

Types of land ownership and land issues Small land holdings and only one plot: women and SCs Most common acquisition types: Inheritance and ‘Sada Bainama (unregistered sale deed)’ Three times more cases of ‘partition’ among men than women. Resolution of land related problems and disputes: Most important types of land related problems for Women: Sivaijamedar, inheritance and unregistered sale deed Men: partition, registered sale deed and not having PPB and TD Almost twice the percentage of men than women pursued land related issues themselves. 11

Revenue Department & other Legal Service Providers Level of Awareness Revenue Department & other Legal Service Providers Land Records Rights ‘Pahani’ – captures cultivator’s and land’s details in a very comprehensive way. ‘1 B’ - register where land records are maintained; it’s like a ledger account and maintains all the sale and purchase of land. This register captures individual specific information. A certificate issued based on this register’s information is called 1B certificate. ‘Naksha’ – Village map; ‘Tippan’ – Map of own land; ‘Setwar’ – Settlement record, prepared and maintained by Survey Department RDO – Revenue Divisional Officer; MRO - Mandal Revenue Officer; VRO – Village Revenue Officer; LSA – Legal Service Authority; Court – Civil/ Criminal 12

Bottlenecks faced Respondents Revenue Official Waiting for government’s decision Person concerned is not appearing Not able to devote enough time to resolve the cases Frequent transfers of revenue official Forest and revenue boundary dispute No legal awareness Corruption Lack of support Illiteracy Negligence of the revenue staff Gender wise: No legal awareness was responded by both the genders; however, corruption was felt more by men than women Caste wise: No legal awareness was felt by most of the STs; however, most of the SCs responded lack of time with the revenue staff 13

What needs to be done Respondents Revenue Official Proper following-up of the issue VRO-the most important person to resolve land disputes-should pay more attention Rules/ orders/ decisions of revenue department should be announced in Gram Sabha Help of revenue administration (MRO, VRO, and Surveyor) to resolve land related cases Capacity need to be strengthened Waiting for instructions from higher official Additional human resources (surveyors) Joint survey by revenue and forest departments 14

Policy recommendations Land legal literacy programme/ Legal awareness generation Training/ capacity building to the revenue officials and adjudicating authorities Need for Human Resources Rules/ orders/ decisions of revenue department should be announced in Gram Sabhas Gender segregated data Legal Assistance to the Poor – through lawyer, legal advice and paralegal VRO emerged as the key authority who could be instrumental in resolving land problems. 15

Conclusions and way forward Andhra Pradesh and Telangana rebuilding will remain incomplete without giving land to the landless and secure land rights to the poor, tribal, women and other marginalized groups. To improve the reach of legal assistance to the poor: legal services and land programs need to be modified according to the poor’s needs Reach of the Revenue Courts & other legal services to be improved. 16

Thank you for your time naveenk@landesa.org 17