Land Para-professionalsAs a last mile solution to land issues of the poor

B. Rajsekhar, IAS,Chief Executive Officer,

Society for Elimination of Rural PovertyDepartment of RD, Govt of AP

It is a symbol of dignityIt is self-respect, it is politics, it is powerIt makes you or unmakes youYou are worth the earth you possess

Possession of Bhoomi is not just economics

A strong legacy of Pro poor land legislations

Land Reforms in AP- A Snap Shot

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

Focus on 3 Key areas: abolition of intermediaries, tenancy reforms and land ceilings

Land Reforms in AP- A Snap Shot

No. of families

benefited

Extent (in acres)

Ownership rights to tenants

1.07 lakh 6 lakh

Occupancy rights on inam lands

3.41 lakh 9.02 lakh

Distribution of ceiling surplus lands

5.4 lakh 5.82 lakh

53.6 lakh acres of Govt. land have been distributed to 32.4 lakh poor families Under RoFR, individual titles distributed 1.65 lakh tribals covering 4.72 lakh acres

Last Mile Challenges

Land Deprivation- Critical Poverty Dimension

LandlessnessLandlessness

PattalessnessPattalessness

PossessionlessnessPossessionlessness

Land in litigationLand in litigation

• Total Disempowerment

• Insecurity• Inaccessibility to credit• Ineligibility for entitlements

All the above drain the poor both economically and psychologically

• Insecurity• Nil impact on livelihoods

• No peace of mind• Unbearable legal expenses

• Govt. of AP established Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP) in year 2000 to facilitate poverty reduction in rural areas

• SERP has as its core strategies Social mobilization and building institutions of

the poor Enhancing capacities and opportunities Reducing vulnerability

• SERP facilitated network of SHGs and their Federations to work on multi-dimensional aspects of poverty

Poverty Agenda- AP

• 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

• Policy advocacy also happened in parallel• G.O.Ms.No.1148 issued by Govt. for convergence

between SERP and Revenue Department• Govt. also appointed Koneru Rangarao Land

Committee to look into all land issues of the poor

Issue-Free Land: Last mile solution

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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

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Land Access Model

trained graduate youth from community (positioned in a mandal)

technically qualified youth trained in survey (positioned in a mandal)

Retired Revenue Officer

(District Level)

Law Graduate(District

Level)

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 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

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

Training Material Developed

Land Issue Resolution Process

Land Inventory of SC/ST lands in the State

• Mapping of 40 lakh acres of 17 lakh SCs/STs to saturate land development of

SC/ST lands under MGNREGA to identify the lands of the SCs/STs

and to facilitate them to have secured title and possession

• 50,000 SC/ST youth were trained, provided with records, did household survey and verified land enjoyment

• Entire data computerized

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• For the first time land ownership and enjoyment data of SCs and STs is collected and physically verified (revenue records do not give this information as they have no caste field)

• Inventory data formed the basis for • Works on 30.14 lakh acres with investment of Rs.

8,871 crore under MGNREGA• Providing irrigation facilities to 10 lakh acres of

SC/ST lands under Indira Jala Prabha, with an investment of Rs.1800 crore

• Land issues of 14 lakh SC/ST families involving 23.69 lakh acres identified and being followed up for resolution

Inventory Outcomes

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Some Innovations

• Pahani, the key village record, was written on village public wall 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

Overall Resolution of Issues

• Revenue Department conducted Revenue Sadassulu between January to March, 2012

• Filing of individual representations by the SCs/STs facilitated• Land Issues resolution is being tracked through online web

application at www.serp.ap.gov.in/Bhoomi • 7.19 lakh issues have been resolved

Phase 2 (2011 onwards)

No. of PoorExtent

(in acres)

Issues identified 6,16,322 11,85,552

Issues got resolved 4,30,255 8,75,502

%Resolved 69.8% 73.8%

Phase 1 (2006-10)

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Acceptance by Revenue field functionaries in initial phaseAcceptance by Revenue field functionaries in initial phase

Challenges Faced

• Deputy Collectors on deputation and retired revenue officers helped bridging the gap

Access to Revenue RecordsAccess to Revenue Records • CCLA issued series of circulars

Convergence between RD and Revenue DepartmentsConvergence between RD and Revenue Departments

• Joint monthly review by Joint Collectors

Rectification of revenue records for resolving majority of the identified issues

Rectification of revenue records for resolving majority of the identified issues

• Revenue Sadassulu, under leadership of Hon’ble RM, resulted in resolution of two-third of the issues

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Lessons from Our Experience

• 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 bringing in community participation and 3. in making the system more transparent and

accountable

Thank You