Velugu SERP Land Access for the Poor. Govt. of AP 2015

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1 Velugu SERP Land Access for the Poor Govt. of AP 2015

2 Land: Critical for Poverty Reduction Possession of Land is not just economics It is a symbol of dignity It is self-respect, it is politics, it is power It makes you or unmakes you You are worth the land you possess

3 Issue-Free Land: prerequisite for development Land being critical productive asset, issue-free it must be 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 by positioning Paralegals and Community Surveyors in 367 mandals Policy advocacy also happened in parallel G.O.Ms.No.1148 and 69 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

4 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

5 Land Reforms -A Snap Shot 1. Strong legacy of pro-poor land legislations 2. Focus on 3 Key areas: abolition of intermediaries, tenancy reforms and land ceilings 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 Bhoodan lands distributed to the poor Distribution of Govt. land to landless poor Individual titles to tribals under Forest Rights Act 0.42 lakh 1.12 lakh 32.4 lakh 53.6 lakh 1.65 lakh 4.72 lakh

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

7 Land Problems faced by Poor Assigned lands Govt. 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 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

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

9 Land Problems faced by Poor Tribal Lands Land alienation among the tribals is remarkably higher despite LTR Survey and settlement regulations resulted in nontribals 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

10 Land Deprivation- Critical Poverty Dimension Landlessness Pattalessness Possessionlessness Land in litigation Total Disempowerment Insecurity Inaccessibility to credit Ineligibility for entitlements Insecurity Nil impact on livelihoods No peace of mind Unbearable legal expenses All the above drain the poor both economically and psychologically

11 Land Access Model of SERP

12 Land Access: Vision Every poor person owning or enjoying a piece of land should have Title document in hand Entry as owner and enjoyer in every key revenue record Land safely in possession developed and yielding incomes 12

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

14 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

15 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

16 Training Material Developed

17 Land Issue Identification & Resolution Process 1 Issues collected from the community and through CBOs Field Enquiry and collection of required material by Paralegal Community Surveyors attend to survey wherever required Representation submitted to revenue officers Paralegal attends Tahsildar office every Monday to follow up till resolution Unresolved issues escalated. Land Managers and Legal Coordinators seek JC s intervention Legal Assistance arranged in lands locked in courts

18 Resolution of Issues Phase 1 ( ) Category identified resolved % Resolved 1 Assignment % 2 House-sites % 3 Forest Rights % 4 Record of Rights % 5 Patta Lands % 6 Survey Specific % 7 Ceiling Surplus Lands % 8 Sada Bainamas % 9 Inam Lands % 10 Tribal Lands % 11 Court Cases % 12 Others % Total (No. of Poor) 6,16,322 4,30, % Total (Extent) 11,85,552 8,75, %

19 SC/ST Land Inventory Land Access Phase I work revealed that 2/3rds of the poor suffering from land issues belonged to SCs/STs KRR Land Committee, whose report and recommendations were accepted by GoAP, focused on how land ownership is eluding SCs and STs and the corrective measures to be taken SCs and STs are the ones suffering most due to lack of access to knowledge and information about their land rights Revenue records do not give land information pertaining to SCs/STs as they have no caste field Land Database of SCs and STs required also to fulfill the entitlement of land development under MGNREGA

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

21 Inventory Coverage No. of Districts 13 No. of Mandals 527 No. of Revenue Villages 14,523 Total SC/ST Households SC/ST households having land Number Extent acres Landless Households Percentage of landless households 50%

22 Inventory outcomes 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 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 lakh SC/ST families (involving 10.3 lakh acres) identified and being followed up for resolution 22

23 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 Total Land Issues identified Land Issues updated in web application Land Issues resolved out of updated % of resolution 84%

24 Resolution of issues identified from inventory Revenue Department conducted Mi Intiki Mi Bhoomi this year. 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 Total Land Issues identified Land Issues updated in web application Land Issues resolved out of updated % of resolution 77%

25 Resolution of Issues identified from Inventory Recently CCLA s office gave access to land records data: separate SERP Logins are given in Mee Seva web application to all the districts enabling them to verify whether the poor people s lands are correctly recorded in Land Records Along with pending issues from Inventory, SERP is planning to take up critical land issues during next round of Revenue Sadassulu

26 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. BNSK facility extended in 10 more Districts, on the same lines. 26

27 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 27

28 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 acres. Out of 103 cases filed, 76 were disposed so far in which 27 orders are in favor of BNSK beneficiaries.

29 Constraints/Gaps At present no facility for VO/SHG Member to file her application for entitlement and its monitoring till entitlement is delivered, at village/vo level. At Village/VO level on the lines of Mee Seva if established is more useful for this purpose. To equip the SHGs and their federations with the knowledge and ability to get resolved land issues themselves, it should be ensured that the ZS/MS land sub committee members attend, atleast one day, PL/CS experience sharing session at Dist. HQ. Atleast one MS sub committee member should also be directed to attend Monday Grievance Day in Tahsildar office along with PL/CS. For this necessary budget provision towards TA & DA shall be made.

30 Constraints/Gaps More convergence is needed. For effective convergence, apart from regular convergence meetings, the Tahsildars & RDOs may be requested to attend PL/CS monthly experience sharing session at Dist. HQ. Tahsildars may be requested to invite PL/CS for monthly VROs review meetings. Similarly monthly Convergence meetings with NREGS (DWMA) staff to know/review the status of land development under NREGS, IJP needs to be conducted.

31 Constraints/Gaps Paralegal model sensitive support system is now existing in 737 mandals only. It should be extended to remaining rural mandals for the benefit of the poor therein. Some poor SC/STs are unable to pay Mee Seva charges and hence their issues are remaining unsolved. It would be better if Govt. waives these charges in respect of SC/ST applications filed through Velugu. Livehoods - Bhoomi

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33 Pathway to lands: Pathway to prosperity In 1998 SC Corporation has purchased 83 acres of land under LPS for 166 SC 50 cents each in J.Annavaram Vg, Yeleswarama Mandal of East Godavari Dist. But there was no approach road to the lands except through Govt. Puntha which was encroached by some other people. The issue which was pending for the last 9 years was rigorously pursued by the Velugu-Land Team, MS and SHG Women and as a result Tahsildar got the survey conducted along with Velugu Community Surveyors and demarcated the pathway through Govt. puntha duly evicting the encroachers on. The beneficiaries took a deep sigh of relieif duly appreciating SHG women for actively participating in resolving their land issue.

34 Land in possession-new doors of opportunities opened During the year 2005, an extent of acres of land in Nandanapalli village was assigned to 64 landless poor of Gargeyapuram Village of Kurnool Dist., During a meeting by DRDA-Velugu Paralegal on 2 nd April 2007 to explain legal rights over the lands, some of the above beneficiaries stated that physical possession of the land was not given due to which, they were unable to cultivate the land. The Paralegal pursued the matter with Tahsildar. Finally Tahsildar, A.D. Survey and Velugu-Community Surveyors surveyed the land and handed over the possession. ZS provided funds for planting stones. Later, land development taken up under NREGA. PPBs and TDs were also given to them. Now the beneficiaries, who felt immense happiness to ultimately get the land into their enjoyment, are raising crops and earning good incomes.

35 Right to forests after long occupation On , the ST SHG Members belonging to Tatrakal village, Vajrakarur Mandal 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. Immediately, the Community Surveyor went to the field and identified that the land under the cultivation of 232 SHG members is a Forest Land (Dry) situated in S.No.168/D measuring acres Then the Tahsildar recommended for pattas to 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 now are very happy that they got the rights on the lands they were cultivating since years together which enables them to access other govt. entitlements.

36 In a V.O.meeting attended by Velugu-Land team at Gottivada village, Kotauratla Mandal of Visakhapanam Dist., the SHG members brought a long pending land issue to their notice that 98 SC and BC families were cultivating land to an extent of acres on a hill since 1986 but they were not issued D-Form Pattas inspite of several requests made. The DPM, land took the matter to the notice of Tahsildar who had replied that the land was under dispute between Forest and Revenue department and the issue was pending since long. When the RDO was consulted, he had got the joint survey conducted by Revenue & Forest Depts and found that it was not connected with the Forest. Then the Tahsildar with the help of Velugu-Community Surveyors got the land demarcated and after taking the approval of assignment committee issued D-pattas, PPBs & TDs to the assignees during V phase of land assignment.

37 Convergent action made it possible When the land inventory work was taken up during in the Marripadu mandal of Nellore Dist., it was found in Chabolu, Pallovolu, Bheemavaram, D.C. Palli, Chilakapadu, Allampadu, Budavada and Chunchuluru villages that the lands of assignees are not demarcated, not entered in records, no PPBs given and some do not know where their land was. This was discussed in Mandal Samakhya meeting and was brought to the notice of the Joint Collector. The Tahsildar of the mandal was directed to resolve all the above issues. Then, all the Mandal level officers and 8 DRDA-Velugu Community Surveyors were deputed to Marripadu mandal to conduct survey in the above villages. While conducting survey, pressure groups created hurdles. Jt.Collector provided the police assistance. Updating of Revenue Records in these villages was also taken up and the beneficiaries were also given crop loans. NREGS works have been taken up for bush clearance and leveling. The entire extent of acres is now in effective enjoyment of 432 poor SC/ST families with legal rights. The officers involved in this issue felt that though it was a team work of Revenue Department, DRDA-Velugu Land Team, MPDO, DWMA and Police Department, without the involvement of Self Help Group Women the work would not have got completed in a smooth manner.

38 Success Story Pending since 7 years Name of the District: Nellore Name of the Mandal: Chittamur Name of the village: Pittivanipalli Village S.No.65 Extent: Ac.3.52 cents Nature of Land Issue: POT Petitioner Name: Koturu Munu Swamy Other Party Name: Kapuluri Sundaraiah

39 Success Story Name of the District: Nellore Name of the Mandal: Chillakur Name of the village: Chinthavaram S.No.376/34 Extent: Ac.2.80cents Nature of Land issue: Encrochment and Records Tampered Petitioner Name: Pasala Kotamma Other Party Name: Pasala Venkatamma and Saguturu Polamma

40 Pending land Issue Before filed case an attempt to made to compromise both parties Name of the District: Nellore Name of the Mandal: Sydapuram Name of the village: Krishnareddy Palli S.No.49P Extent: Ac.2.00cents Petitioner Name: Adesanapalli Ramanamma Other Party Name: Naripaka Nageswara Rao

41 Velugu Community Surveyors, showing possession to 121 SC and ST beneficiaries(ac ) in North Amulur village of Allur Mandal. Issue pending since 10 years. See the happiness of these women beneficiaries after obtaining possession on the lands.

42 Conducted Youth trainings : Covered 448 Mandal, students and Rural youth. In Gudur Mandal, Nellore Dist. 7th Addl. District Judge, Gudur, Zilla Samakya Land sub-committee members and panel of advocates of that court etc were also participated in our Youth trainings on Land Matters

43 Pending Issue Name of the District: Nellore Name of the Mandal: Podalakur Name of the village: Tatiparthi S.No.686/2 Extent: Ac.2.00cents Petitioner Name: Thirumalasetty Chenchu Obulesu Other Party Name: Borra Sankaraiah

44 LAND ACCESS UNIT DISTRICT OFFICERS WORKSHOP At APARD, Hyderabad-AP

45 PROTECTION OF LAND RIGHTS ARE MOST IMPORTANT THAN POSSESSING LAND THANK YOU