1. Dr Prabhakar Reddy Tada UN Women, MCO, New Delhi Land Rights from a Gender Perspective; A Study of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states, India

2. Introduction Objective Methodology Sample selection Data sources Tools and techniques Results and Discussion Scheme of the presentation

3. Possession of Land is a symbol of status It provides self-confidence, and power It is a main source of livelihood People belong to land and get identified with it. Introduction

4. Land being critical productive asset, it must be issue-free Since poor find it difficult to resolve the issues by themselves, they needed easily accessible professional support SERP put in place sensitive land support mechanism in 2006-07 by positioning Paralegals and Community Surveyors in 367 mandals It is an initiative of the Government in a PCP approach implemented to improve land rights of women using the SHG base Gender balance is ensured through enabling securing land rights which are effective and independent Issue-Free Land: Prerequisite for development

5. Strong Legacy of Pro-poor Land Legislations AP (Telangana Area) Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1950 and AP (Andhra Area) Tenancy Act, 1956 AP (Telangana Area) Abolition Of Inams Act, 1955 and AP (Andhra Area) Inam Abolition Act, 1956 AP Land Reforms (Ceiling on Agricultural Holdings) Act, 1973 AP Scheduled Areas Land Transfer Regulation, 1959 as amended in 1970, 71 and 78 AP Rights In Land and Pattadar Pass Books Act, 1971 AP Occupants Of Homesteads (Conferment Of Ownership) Act, 1976 AP Assigned Lands (Prohibition Of Transfer) Act, l977 AP Land Grabbing Act, AP Land Encroachment Act etc. AP Land Licensed Cultivators Act, 2011

6. 1 Lack of awareness on land rights 2 Lack of Access to Records 3 Cutting edge official machinery preoccupied with non- land agenda 4 Skewed ratio of revenue officers and surveyors Vs land matters to be resolved 5 Weak dispute resolution and legal aid mechanisms 6 Powerful vested interests in villages Last Mile Challenges For poor, legislations are not an end by themselves

7. Assigned lands Pattas are given, but possession not shown Succession not implemented Alienated lands not resumed and restored even though prohibition of transfer is in place Govt. Lands Pattas are not given even though poor are in occupation of unobjectionable lands Patta Lands Lands bought by the poor on plain paper (sadabainama) yet to be regularized Mutations not effected Ceiling Surplus Provisional Pattas are given which need to be converted into D-Form Pattas Lands in occupation of Pattadar in some places Land Problems of Poor

8. Bhoodan Lands No records Bogged down with many issues Inam Lands Still waiting to be settled in Telangana region Endowment Lands Under occupation of non-poor in many places Other Issues Lands wanting Survey Lands of the poor locked in courts for ages Rastha/ burial ground issues House site issues Land Problems of Poor

9. Land alienation among the tribals is remarkably higher despite LTR Survey and settlement regulations resulted in non- tribals holding substantial extent of lands 51% of LTR cases decided in favor of non-tribals. Orders in favor of tribals not implemented in true spirit Tribals still struggling to get individual rights to the forests under their occupation in spite of RoFR Act in place- 47% of individual claims rejected Land Problems of Poor Tribal Lands

10. Land Institution in PCP approach ‘Bhoomi initiative’

11. Objective of the study Objective of the study is to examine the impact of ‘Bhoomi’ initiative (land institution) in helping the poor women in securing land rights through legal and financial support.

12. Methodology Sample and data collection Two states viz AP and Telangana Four districts from AP and one from Telangana Survey and non survey methods Apart from administering simple questionnaire to 180 respondents we have conducted FGDs (15), IDIs (10) and KIIs (10) among others to elicit the data and information.

13. Methodology In addition we have collected secondary data pertaining to land purchase and access from SERP which is implementing Bhoomi initiative successfully.

14. 14 Land Access: Vision Every poor person owning or enjoying a piece of land should have Title document in hand Land safely in possession Entry as owner and enjoyer in every key revenue record developed and yielding incomes

15. Land Access: Model District Land Center (DRDA) 1. Legal Coordinator (16) 3. Community Surveyor (271) 2. Paralegal (201) 1.Law Graduate (District Level) 2.trained graduate youth from community (mandal level) 3.technically qualified youth trained in survey (mandal level) 4. APD/DPM (4) 5. Land Manager (12) 4.Deputy Collector on deputation from Revenue Dept. (District Level) 5.Retired Revenue Officer (District Level)

16. Capacity Building of Paralegals Paralegals recruited by way of notification, written test and interview Initial training of one month in the districts including village stay Training at AP Academy of Rural Development, Hyderabad for 5 days NALSAR University of Law conducted Paralegal Certification Course for 10 days Continuous capacity building at district land centers every fortnight Trainings covered basics of lands like types of lands and land records, land enactments, procedures, identification and resolution process of land issues

17. Capacity Building of Community Surveyors Youth having technical qualifications were recruited as Community Surveyors by way of notification, written test and interview Trained for 2 months in cadastral survey in AP Survey Training Academy, Hyderabad 12 months apprenticeship with departmental mandal surveyors in districts Department of Survey issued licenses free of cost

18. Processes of Securing Land Rights 1 Issues gathered from the community and through CBOs 2 Field Enquiry and collection of required material by Paralegal 3 Community Surveyors attend to survey wherever required 4 Representation submitted to revenue officers 5 Paralegal attends Tahsildar office every Monday to follow up till resolution 6 Unresolved issues escalated. Land Managers and Legal Coordinators seek JC’s intervention 7 Legal Assistance arranged in lands locked in courts

19. Inventory Process 1 Youth from the villages trained in land matters and process of inventory 2 Important Revenue Records collected from Tahsildars’ offices 3 Door-to-door survey conducted collecting available documents with the household 4 Physical verification of lands done to note the actual enjoyment of lands 5 Data discussed in the meetings of Village Organizations 6 Data computerized 7 Issues culled out and resolution followed up by Land Teams

20. 20 For the first time land ownership and enjoyment data of SCs and STs is collected and physically verified Inventory data formed the basis for Works on 17.5 lakh acres with investment of Rs. 5145 crore under MGNREGA Providing irrigation facilities to 5.8 lakh acres of SC/ST lands under Indira Jala Prabha, with an investment of Rs.1044 crore 10 lakh land issues of 908101 lakh SC/ST families (involving 10.3 lakh acres) identified and being followed up for resolution Inventory outcomes

21. Resolution of issues identified from inventory Revenue Department conducted Revenue Sadassulu between January to March, 2012 and 2013 SERP submitted the village wise lists of SC/ST families along with their land issue information to the Tahsildars SERP also facilitated filing of individual representations by the SCs, STs and Other Poor. Land Issues resolution is being tracked through online web application at www.serp.ap.gov.in/BHOOMIAP. Total Land Issues identified1001863 Land Issues updated in web application 1001863 Land Issues resolved out of updated 846949 % of resolution84%

22. Pahani, the key village record, was written on public wall in the village and made available for public scrutiny in Warangal district. Copies of critical land records are provided to each and every poor person having land issue in Medak District. Bhoomi Nyaya Sahaya Kendram (Land Legal Assistance Center) is established in DRDA, Warangal to assist the poor whose cases are locked in courts. BNSK facility extended in 10 more Districts, on the same lines. 22 Important Innovations

23. Results and Discussion Perceptions of respondents Percentage of help received by the respondents Progress of land purchase Progress of land access

24. 24 Lessons Learnt Apart from the pro-poor land legislations, the poor, especially SCs and STs, require exclusive facilitation support to get their land issues resolved Paralegals, from the community of the poor, if trained well, can competently support both the poor and the Revenue Dept. 1.in settling land disputes 2.in improving community participation and 3.in making the system more transparent and accountable

25. BHOOMI NYAYA SAHAYA KENDRAM (BNSK) Thousands of land cases of the poor are pending in revenue courts & civil courts, many more thousands of cases of the poor are not even brought before the courts as they have limited access to legal services. SERP recognized the need of providing lawyers, court fees and other legal support to the poor and established BNSKs in 6 Districts. BNSKs have registered 341 cases pertaining to 551 poor covering an extent of 532.4 acres. Out of 103 cases filed, 7 were disposed so far in which 6 orders are in favor of BNSK beneficiaries.

26. Right to forests after long occupation On 6-2-2008, the ST SHG Members of Anantapuram Dist., had represented to ‘Devi’ Village Organization that they were all cultivating land since long and did not possess Pattadar pass books for getting loans and subsidies. The Community Surveyor identified that the land under the cultivation of 232 SHG members is a Forest Land (Dry) situated in S.No.168/D measuring acres 442-00. Then the Tahsildar recommended for pattas to 232 members @ 2.00 acres each under ROFR Act. Forest Rights Committee, Sub-Divisional Level Committee and finally the District Level Committee has approved it and titles were issued. The SHG members were able to access govt. entitlements.

27. Conclusions Para legal assistance strategy helped poor women in securing land rights Enhanced social capital among poor women who are members of SHGs Government with pro-poor approach working towards poverty alleviation and gender equality Land institution in a PCP approach was successful in improving people’s participation

28. Recommendations Gender mainstreaming in all the government departments is essential Assigning land governance to the local governments is needed for equitable distribution of land parcels Assigning common lands on a group approach if women come forward for cultivation purpose

29. Thank You