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Land Grabbing in India and the Movement for Food Security

Land Grabbing in India and the Movement for Food Security. Shivani Chaudhry Housing and Land Rights Network & Ekta Parishad , India. India: Socio-Economic Indicators. One-fifth of world’s poor live in India – the largest for any country .

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Land Grabbing in India and the Movement for Food Security

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  1. Land Grabbing in India and the Movement forFood Security ShivaniChaudhry Housing and Land Rights Network & EktaParishad, India

  2. India: Socio-Economic Indicators • One-fifth of world’s poor live in India – thelargest for any country. • India has one-fourth (208 million) of world’s 800 million under-nourished people. • Child malnutrition is the world’s highest. • Human Development Index: 119 of 169 countries. • GDP growth rate: +7% over 3 years.

  3. Land Distribution & Ownership • India is 70% rural with high dependence on land: agriculture, fisheries and forests. • 83% of farmers are small farmers <2 hectares. • Small farmers produce 41% of country’s food grains. • 60% of cultivable land owned by 10% of population.

  4. Land Distribution & Ownership • Unequal ownership of land – root cause of poverty & hunger. • Landless and ‘near-landless’ ~ 220 million people. • 90% of landless poor are Scheduled Castes (Dalits) & Scheduled Tribes (indigenous peoples). • Majority work as agricultural labour and sharecroppers. • Access to land is a key determinant of food security and livelihood protection.

  5. Women & Land • Rural women depend greatly on land for subsistence. • Perform > 50% of all agricultural work. • 35% of rural households are women-headed,but less than 2% women hold titles to land. • Migration of men to urban areas – resulting in ‘feminisationof agriculture.’ • Women largely not recognised as farmers.

  6. Land Reform • Post-independence land reform focused on: • Abolition of system of feudal landlords (zamindars). • Tenancy reforms to transfer ‘land to the tiller.’ • Redistribution of land via ‘ceiling’ on holdings.

  7. Failure of Land Reform • Land reform not successfully implemented in most states. • No focus on gender equity. • 2 million acres of land declared surplus but not yet distributed because of litigation /other reasons. • Post-1991: pro-liberalisationagenda. • Push for removal of land ceiling restrictions. • No political will to implement land reform. • Draft Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012-2017): does not mention land reform.

  8. What is ‘Land Grabbing’? • Phenomenon of takeover of people’s land by both State and non-State actors. • Generally forceful / involuntary. • Largely unregulated/ illegal/ without due process. • Often justified with ‘public purpose’ clause. • People generally left with no legal recourse/ access to remedy. Occurring at an unprecedented scale in rural and urban areas.

  9. Land Grabbing: Key Factors (1) • ‘Development projects’ – dams, mining, natural resource extraction, ports, roads, infrastructure projects, mega-events… • Special Economic Zones (1 million face threat of eviction). • Slum demolitions/ ‘urban renewal.’ India is estimated to have the highest number of people displaced annually as a result of ‘development’ projects: since independence (1947) almost 65 million displaced

  10. Land Grabbing: Key Factors (2) • Industrialization of agriculture. • Reduction in agricultural subsidies. • High prices of patented /GM seeds & fertilisers. • Bio-fuel production (3.2 million hectares). • Creation of carbon stocks for ‘climate mitigation.’ • National Parks/ Eco-tourism.

  11. Land Grab Facilitated by : (1) • Use of Land Acquisition Act (1894) which allows state takeover of land under guise of ‘public purpose.’ • Neo-liberal economic policiesand obsession with ‘GDP growth.’ • Changes in land laws to facilitate conversion of agricultural land and to ease land sale.

  12. Land Grab Facilitated by: (2) • Manipulation of laws and takeover of land by the state for companies (Indian and foreign), often using violence: • State acquiring land for foreign investors under leasing arrangements – e.g. Vedanta Aluminium/ Lafarge. • 6,000 acres land acquired for Yamuna Expressway in Uttar Pradesh (1,225 villages) – 4 farmers killed in clashes. • POSCO (South Korea) Steel Plant, Odisha: state using police force to suppress resistance / destroy betel vines / threaten villagers.

  13. Land Grab Facilitated by: (3) • Alienation of tribal lands. • Violation of ‘ceiling’ laws in rural areas. • Failure to implement progressive laws: • Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996. • Forest Rights Act, 2008. • Failure to implement positive court orders. • Lack of human rights-based laws and policies (e.g. Rehabilitation Policy).

  14. Urban Land Grab Caused by: • Unplanned urbanization. • Repeal of Urban Land (Ceiling & Regulation) Act. • Inequitable land use policies : lack of space for urban poor in cities/towns. • Unchecked real estate speculation. • Absence of housing, health, employment schemes for the urban poor.

  15. Trade & Investment Agreements: • India has signed 21 bilateral investment treaties with 22 of 27 EU states. • EU-India FTA: ‘investor protection chapter’ - conflicts with human rights obligations. • Risk of takeover of community land for large-scale investment by European companies. • Obligation of Fair and Equitable Treatment (FET) – against human rights /no ‘public interest’ exemption. • ‘Free and Prior Informed Consent’ not required. • Lease of 99 years – could interfere with land reform. • Investor-State dispute settlement – gives foreign investors undue rights over Constitution of India & int’l law.

  16. Impacts of Land Grabbing (1): • Increased forced evictions : 40-50% of displaced are tribal/ indigenous peoples. • Increasing landlessness/ homelessness. • Acute agrarian crisis. • Growing indebtedness of farmers. • Rise in farmer suicides (+ 250,000 in 15 years). • Forced migration to urban areas. • Deepening poverty and hunger.

  17. Impacts of Land Grabbing (2): • Arbitrary arrests /attacks/ detention of human rights defenders. • Criminalisation of social movements . • Social unrest and violence: rise of insurgency and counter-insurgency movements. • Disproportionately severe impacts on women. • Violation of multiple human rights.

  18. Movement of Small Peasants • People uniting to struggle against forceful land acquisition and corporate agriculture. • Growth of organic farming & small farmer cooperatives. • Women leading movements to occupy village ‘wastelands’ & promote collective farming/ rights. • Non-violent social movements like EktaParishadare mobilising thousands and spreading awareness on the importance of land reform and redistribution to promote food security, self-governance and dignity.

  19. Recommendations for Govt. of India (1) • Adopt a strong human rights approach in all laws/policies/programmes. • Implement human rights-based agrarian reform => land redistribution + agricultural resources (including seeds), water, information, & access to markets. • Adopt urban reform measures + provision of homestead land in urban areas. • Provide legal security of tenure & recognise collective rights. • Strengthen National Land Reforms Council. • Strengthen Public Distribution System (PDS).

  20. Recommendations for Govt. of India (2) • Accord women equal rights to land and other natural resources, property, housing, inheritance. • Control real estate speculation. • Repeal Land Acquisition Act(1894). • Develop a comprehensive National Land Reform Policy.

  21. Recommendations for Govt. of India (3) • Implement good laws: • Panchayat Act (1996) & 73rd Amendment Act – devolves powers to local self governing bodies. • Forest Rights Act (2008). • Directives on joint registration of land – names of men & women. • Hindu Succession Amendment Act 2005 - equal inheritance rights for men & women. • Enforce: • International human rights law. • Concluding Observations of UN treaty bodies & Special Rapporteurs.

  22. Recommendations for EU (1) • Ensure strong human rights protection clause is included in the EU-India FTA. • Call for Human Rights Impact Assessments to be conducted ex-ante and ex-post – for all trade & investment agreements (requested by European Parliament in November 2010). • Call for implementation of guidelines proposed by Special Rapporteur on right to food regarding land acquisitions & the UN Basic Principles and Guidelines on Development-based Evictions and Displacement.

  23. Recommendations for EU (2) • Issue guidelines for European investors in India that ensure protection of human rights. • EU and India should respect rights of urban and rural poor, and protect small farmers and informal workers. • Use Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of India at the Human Rights Council (May 2012) to promote the realisation of human rights to food/land in India.

  24. Conclusion Guaranteeing rights of people to own, control and manage their land and other natural resources is critical to promoting food security and well-being, and to protecting multiple human rights

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