Monday, 05 December 2011 21:55
DEVELOPMENT DEFICIT
BY Sudarshan Chhotoray
Livelihood of people are increasingly undermined by issues surrounding entitlement, forest rights, land rights and ‘podu’ (shifting) cultivation in rural areas in Odisha. Many families in the State either lack any access to land or a secure stake in the land they cultivate. As a result, acute poverty, hunger and social unrest have been the major concerns for everyone.
Tribals living in Kalahandi are entirely dependent on the forests for their livelihoods yet their land rights are under threat. The area is characterised by poor infrastructure, communication, low literacy, poor access to primary health care, high rate of deforestation, and no alternate avenues for income generation. Similarly, the villages of Junagarh block are thickly populated and a majority of population belongs to backward caste people.
To make the marginalised people aware of their rights and provide them with updated information and required forms and guidelines, the Government of India in collaboration with UNDP and in partnership with a local NGO Antodaya has established RTI clinics-cum-land rights resource centres at six strategic places in Kalahandi, among which five are in Thuamul Rampur block covering seven Gram Panchayats (GP) and one clinic in Junagarh block covering 16 villages of three GPs. These centres are managed by a Clinic Organiser who gives counselling; arranges awareness programmes regularly and organises mobile RTI clinics at remote villages once a month in each GP. The organisers make the people aware of different laws, policies and programmes. They identify the cases and also encourage the villagers to file applications.
Road to Freedom
Singhram Chataria is now able to cultivate paddy in his own land first time after 13 years after it was released from illegal occupation.
Forty- year-old Chataria is still struggling hard to get back the possession of his other lands. He has been running from pillar to post to get justice. The Government officials either ignored or denied his plea. Chataria, a wage labourer, had lost everything, including his dwelling during the devastating floods of 1998-99.
After a long pursuit, he had got a homestead land of 0.004 decimals under landless and homestead less scheme. The land patta was issued to him by local revenue officer along with 38 others of his Dalit hamlet. But, his patch of land was illegally and forcibly occupied by a local land lord.
Despite several attempts by Chataria and others, the landlord had never allowed them to enter into the land either for construction of houses or for cultivation. Chataria and others were beaten, humiliated and tortured by police and local goons.
After a long wait for nearly 13 years, Antodaya intervened by counselling them and extending legal support to the people who lost their land. A case was filed in a district court. Many like Chataria got stay order against the illegal occupation and at the same time also got order and direction from the court to go ahead with house construction.
Land alienation has been the most contentious issue as far as the tribal areas are concerned. At least 40 per cent lands in scheduled areas are not in the hands of tribals. More than 74,000 cases have been filed between 1959 and 2004. The Government has already decided to withdraw at least 14,000 such cases. All it needs is a comprehensive legislation and enactment of a uniform land use policy, which can take care of the need for land.
“Land rights are a means to reduce chronic poverty of the tribal population of Odisha,” argues Professor Nilakantha Panigrahy of Nabakrushna Chaudhury Centre for Development Studies. Presenting facts to prove his arguments, he said, “While population- wise north Odisha has tribal population of 35.22 in comparison with south Odisha at 34.67, but the poverty index shows north has poverty of 18.99 per cent vis-à-vis 34.08 per cent in the south. It is all because of land alienation as out of the 62 tribal groups in the State, 13 are Primitive Tribal Groups (PTGs), whose basic source of living is land and forest resources”.
Due to faulty settlement and consolidation policies, land dispute has been the chief source of conflict in many areas. The Tribal uprising, the industrial unrests in Odisha and above all, the ever -increasing Maoist violence are all attributed to land alienations and disputes over land. The Government is at loggerheads with the Adivasis and other traditional forest dwellers like Dalits in many areas.
“Though Odisha is a pioneering State in introducing land reforms but because of non implementation and growing landlessness, the problems of chronic poverty and vulnerability are yet to be resolved,” said a RTI volunteer.
He further added, “What needs to be done is tenancy reforms, protecting rights of sharecroppers, women land rights and homestead development through convergence.”
According to Antodaya chairman Dilip Das, where land ownership is confusing, common property resources are occupied by influential people and development induced land alienation has been the order of the day. “
Tale of marginalisation, rescue
After a wait over two years, finally Mamata heaved a sigh of relief. She is now spending happier days ever. Mamata (22), who lives in Kalahandi had undergone innumerable sufferings and ordeal for a failed marriage.
She survived after a bad marriage and got compensation of Rs 60, 000. She was estranged from her husband and in laws in a court. And all these happened following the intervention of Antodaya. Access to Justice Project, a joint initiative of UNDP and Government of India, in which Antoday is a partner, was launched in 2009 in Junagarh block with a view to providing access to justice to the marginalized sections.
Mamata is the only daughter among the three children of poor parents Laxmi and Laxman Sahu, residents of Kendupati village under Kendupati GP in Junagarh. The area has earned a dubious distinction for poverty, malnutrion, starvation deaths, child sale and migration, to name a few.
Mamata had to pass through many difficult times in her life. First, it was practically difficult to find a groom for her and then her difficult marital life. Barely fifteen days after the marriage, her in-laws asked for money and had demanded a motor cycle failing which they started torturing her. She was not even provided food. She spent several sleepless nights. When she became mentally and physically weak, her in-laws asked her father to take her back.
Mamata’s father had to sell their one acre of cultivable irrigated land besides spending their small savings for her marriage. They had gone landless and were living depending on wage labour.
Antodaya came to her rescue. After its intervention through the support of district legal aid services, she got relief. Her case was accepted by the police at the instruction of district Superintendent of Police. Women desk of the district police took up the case but the matter remained unsolved and at last the case was moved to the family court in Dharmagarh. And the justice was delivered in her favour.
Mamata’s case was reported to State Women’s Commission (SWC), which took the case seriously, inquired and had ordered for compensation and rehabilitation.
“Because of illiteracy, ignorance and above all prevalence of poverty in this region many women like Mamata suffer for no fault of theirs. All they need is the legal support and counseling. We need to scale up the project to new areas,” said Das of Antodaya.
The writer is a senior freelance journalist
Published in the DAILY PIONEER, BHUBANESWAR ON 6TH DECEMBER 2011
http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/25550-land-alienation-bone-of-contention-in-odisha-tribal-areas.html
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