Subrata Singh & Pooja Chandran
India, renowned for its diverse landscapes and communities, has almost
a quarter of its territory as communal or common lands. These include a range
of areas, such as grazing pastures, village commons, and community forests, all
collectively used and managed by local communities. This subtle yet pivotal
role significantly contributes to sustaining rural livelihoods, biodiversity,
and ecological balance.
However, nearly a quarter of a century has elapsed since the last documented
assessment of India’s common lands. The scarcity of comprehensive
data and knowledge stands at the core of unsustainable resource use, weak
policies, conflicts, and missed opportunities for conservation. As a result,
common land resources are currently experiencing a rapid decline, despite judicial calls for action urging their
protection.
Over the years, state departments
have progressed in developing data systems and digitising paper records to
support their primary areas of operations. Yet, the lack of well-coordinated information across government units remains a challenge. A
case in point is observed in Andhra Pradesh, where numerous villages recently
implored their district authorities to include their common lands within the
Prohibitory Order Book (POB). Doing so would ensure that these lands, otherwise
categorised as ‘wastelands’, are reserved for communal use and safeguarded from
diversions for alternative purposes.
Although several villages witnessed lands entered into the POB
following their requests, the communities’ rights to manage the resources
usually did not get documented. This results from the historic disconnect
between the land revenue departments and local governing bodies under the
panchayati raj system. The former, concerned primarily with documentation and land
records, can sometimes overlook the social, cultural, and economic significance
of common lands. On the other hand, the latter, while engaged with local
communities, lacks the legal mechanisms required for formal recognition and
protection of lands beyond the panchayat circle. This scenario is exacerbated
by vague land boundaries, encroachments, and competing claims.
Yet, this August, hope emerged in the village of Chintamakulapalle when the panchayat
received a long-awaited letter from the revenue department, officially
acknowledging their custodianship of the hard-fought common lands. As a
definitive step forward, the panchayat promptly entered the lands into their panchayat asset register, planting the seed of progress for others to follow. Even without a
clear legislative framework for tenure, the community’s rights and customs can hold weight within the court of law.
This triumph
resonates as more than a local victory; it echoes the need to harmonise India’s
diverse land information management practices into a cohesive whole. Governance
of common lands transcends administrative boundaries and involves multiple
stakeholders with varying interests. A cohesive strategy is needed to break
down data silos and integrate different knowledge systems, thus empowering
communities to make well-informed decisions that safeguard the sustainability
of common lands for generations to come. As the crucial first step, a
comprehensive registry can play a pivotal role in achieving an integrated and
holistic governance framework for common lands.
If you can’t
measure it, you can’t manage it
A common land registry goes beyond
a mere public record of land parcels; it serves as a repository of shared
resources, encompassing geographical data, political boundaries, and legal
cadastres. While the United Kingdom has been a prominent example,
diverse forms of such registries exist in countries like Uganda, Peru, and Tanzania. Although Indian states have
inventoried public lands for ‘land banks’ in the past, these efforts are mainly
aimed at diverting them for more productive
purposes, such as urban expansion, infrastructure, industries, and the recent
addition of compensatory
afforestation.
In contrast, a common land
registry seeks to inform resource management, facilitate decision-making, and
safeguard customary rights. To this end, it can include information about land
categories based on historical and customary use, precise land parcel
boundaries, restrictions over land use and alienation, documentation of shared
access and resource rights, along with details of ownership and management
entities.
Integrating digital maps with
advanced geographic information systems (GIS) can provide a more accurate
understanding of on-ground situations. A prime example is Delhi’s e-Dharti GeoPortal, which combines legacy drawings
like maps and lease plans into a GIS-enabled system, showcasing potential in
this regard. The concept of an integrated GIS-enabled land portal, available at
the national, state, district, block, and village levels, also aligns with the
vision set forth by the Draft National Land
Reforms Policy.
This act of opening land data for public scrutiny can strengthen social
accountability and facilitate continuous improvements in its administration. Harnessing technology and enabling
stakeholders to remotely access and verify data can improve transparency,
reduce information asymmetry, and curtail instances of fraud. Roughly three-quarters of land-related conflicts in
India revolve around common lands, often materialising as on-ground protests due to inadequate recognition of
rights. An open, digital common land registry holds the potential to reshape
conflict resolution by reducing ambiguities and fostering transparency. GIS
applications can further deter encroachments through historical analyses,
aligning with the recent
observations from the Hon’ble Madras High Court. This could prove
particularly valuable to dispute resolution authorities such as the Public Land Protection Cells.
Establishing the common land registry as the definitive reference point requires an
understanding of the dynamic nature of common lands – where rivers shift
courses, grazing occurs seasonally, and governance rules constantly evolve. State governments, vested with the
constitutional power to devise their land-related policies, are best positioned
to anchor the process. Nevertheless, given the existing fragmented landscape of
regulations, practices, and even land categorisation within each state, the
involvement of the central government becomes crucial to establish baseline
standards or a guiding framework, akin to the efforts made under the centrally-sponsored
Digital India Land
Records Modernisation Programme.
The road to the single source of truth
Recognising community stewardship
is at the core of this initiative. As the primary stakeholders, communities
form the foundation upon which the registry is built, making their active
participation and ownership pivotal to its success. The process begins by
harmonising existing documents such as the panchayat asset register, people’s
biodiversity register, and other records maintained by committees entrusted
with local natural resource management. In Assam, for instance, village-level
committees are designated as the guardians of land resources. They oversee the preparation and update of the village ‘land bank’ and ‘knowledge
bank’, ensuring resource protection.
Similar responsibilities are undertaken at various tiers of governance,
as seen in Karnataka, where
the taluk panchayat has to consolidate, maintain, and update a database of
pertinent socio-economic information and a map of natural resources. Rajasthan elevates this with a multi-layered structure where charagah vikas
samiti (pasture land development committee) at the panchayat, block, and
district levels prepare records and development plans for grazing lands within
their jurisdiction. At the apex, the Waste Land and Pasture Land Development
Board has to create and maintain a state-wide database.
Central to the registry’s success is the principle of being a
"single source of truth", housing accurate, comprehensive, and
up-to-date information. Achieving this goal requires a multifaceted approach
that spans legal, technical, administrative, and community engagement
dimensions. It also needs synergy
among various horizontal and vertical nodes of decision-making. Progress is
already being made at the intra-departmental level within states. Assam, for
instance, has launched the Integrated Land
Records Management System, aimed at improving the interconnectivity among
different revenue departments for property registration, land records updation,
revenue collection, and transfer approvals of immovable property. It is equally
imperative to enhance inter-departmental collaboration to ensure the accuracy
and completeness of the registry. Key players in this initiative include the
departments of land revenue, panchayati raj and rural development, forest,
agriculture, information technology, and urban development.
The registry itself is not a
panacea for all land-related challenges; it must coexist within a broader
strategy. For instance, the process of documenting and harmonising the
boundaries can unearth conflicts within and among communities. This emphasises the need to incorporate
boundary negotiations, conflict resolution processes, and fostering trust among
stakeholders as integral facets of registry development. Concerns surrounding digital land grabbing have also surfaced, necessitating a more robust legal regime for
communal property and collective stewardship. It is also vital to continue strengthening digital infrastructure at the
local level, while building capacities
of panchayats to maintain registers and records, as outlined under the National Capability Building Framework.
While acknowledging these caveats, the need for evidence-based planning
and sustainable resource governance also remains indisputable. The registry has
the potential to evolve into the foundational data source that is used across
sectors and domains. This can empower decision-makers at various levels to,
together, base their choices on reliable data, thus facilitating the
development of more effective, targeted policies. In this manner, the registry
can transcend its role of being a mere data repository, intricately weaving
together the threads of traditions and technology, resulting in a unified
fabric of progress.
