Odisha's district to have land rights centres for women
In a pioneering policy move to provide secure land rights to poor women, Odisha's Ganjam District administration has announced creation of exclusive centres that will reach out to single mothers, separated women, and widows, across its 22 administrative divisions.
The path-breaking announcement has come after a year long advocacy effort of showcasing gains of a Women and Land Rights Facilitation Centre (WLRFC) in Khallikote Tehsil of the district.
It has been an exciting and painstaking evolution for the lone centre that came up last year on the International Women’s Day, as a joint collaboration between Rural Development Institute – part of international advocacy group, Landesa, and the district administration.
It started just with an idea of creating a sustainable and structured process to reach some of the most vulnerable women in the rural communities. Being marginalised within the family the women are deprived of entitlement schemes and social security benefits.
In the past decade or so, the number of women-headed households in rural India has been on the rise, especially in areas with high poverty, with men being forced to migrate in search of livelihood. Government estimates that close to 35 per cent households in India are now women headed.
Over 80 per cent women in rural India are dependent on agriculture for livelihood, yet less than 10 per cent of all women in India own land; and to make this inequality worse women rarely inherit or own even the land that they live on.
But when you add to this picture, the tremendous change a woman can bring in household income, productivity and improved access to education for children, when they own land, the rationale for her unmediated control of land becomes all the more stronger.
Being marginalised within the family the women are deprived of entitlement schemes and social security benefits.
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) report, Women in Agriculture: Closing the Gender Gap for Development, highlights that given the same access as men; women could increase production in developing countries by 20 to 30 per cent.
This could raise total agricultural production in developing countries by 2.5 to 4 per cent, which could in turn reduce the number of hungry people in the world by 12 to 17 per cent, or 100 to 150 million people. An estimated 925 million people in the world were undernourished in 2010, of which 906 million live in developing countries.
Many firsts
The decision to set up WLRFCs across the district has many firsts to it in terms of planning. There are specific processes laid out for addressing the challenges that create barriers for women in accessing land.
The revenue system dominated by the male staff rarely has any contact with women, as the land is seen as only men’s domain. To bridge this gap, the centres will have dedicated women revenue inspectors for each centre.
The revenue system dominated by the male staff rarely has any contact with women, as the land is seen as only men’s domain. To bridge this gap, the centres will have dedicated women revenue inspectors for each centre.
Over 80 per cent women in rural India are dependent on agriculture for livelihood, yet less than 10 per cent of all women in India own land; and to make this inequality worse women rarely inherit or own even the land that they live on.
The Anganwadi workers in each village will identify women who are in need and are eligible to receive benefits of the homestead land schemes. Through this the issue of marginalisation that leads to almost non-existent demand for such schemes will be addressed.
Homestead land ownership is often the key piece for accessing several other entitlements for the poor. Keeping this in view, the centre will also enable these women to get caste, residence and income certificates, along with accessing schemes like the pension for widow.
The program will be monitored directly by district team at collector’s office that will also include civil society organisations.
The programme that will be rolled out by the district administration in collaboration with RDI and ActionAid is expected to provide land ownership titles to 10,000 single and vulnerable women in the next one year.
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