Synopsis On

Mapping of Commons (Lands) in the villages Of Bhilwara, Districts of Rajasthan

Under
Foundation for Ecological Security, Rajasthan

Submitted to: Prof. Goutam Sadhu Associate Dean - School of Rural Management, Submitted by: Abhishek trivedi 2011-13

School of Rural Management (SRM), Institute of health management and Research

Prabhu Dayal Marg, 302011 Tonk Road, Jagatpura, Jaipur, Rajasthan

CONTENTS Introduction: Common resources Common land History of common land resources

Relevance Criticality of commons Objectives Organizational profile Review of literature Hypothesis Methodology

Commons:-

Resource meant for common use of the community and is accessible to and collectively owned and managed by an identifiable community and on which no individual has exclusive rights.

The commons were traditionally defined as the elements of the environment - forests, atmosphere, rivers, fisheries or grazing land - that are shared, used and enjoyed by all. The commons can also include public goods such as public space, public education, health and the infrastructure that allows our society to function (such as electricity or water delivery systems). There also exists the life commons, e.g. the human genome.

Land which is used by one or more persons who have no ownership interests in the land, directly or indirectly. The modern definition is of lands which are available for public use or enjoyment, such as parks, sidewalks or highways.

"Common land may be described as land over which rights of common are exercised. A right of common is the legal right of one or more persons to take some part of, the produce of, or the wild animals on the land of another person." What are the types of common lands. a. Revenue wastelands b. Grazing lands c. Forest lands Type of common land Administ ering Body Revenue wastelands Revenue Dept. Grazing Lands Revenue Dept. Revenue Dept. Gram Panchayat Custodian Forms of institutions through which these lands may be secured Tree Growers Cooperatives, SHGs, Gram Panchayat, Charagah Vikas Samiti (Ward oriented), Forestlands Forest Dept. Forest Dept. VFPMC, CFRC

HISTORY OF COMMON LAND RESOURCES IN RAJASTHAN

Rajasthan is the largest state in India with a geographical area of 34 million ha and a population of 56 million. Two thirds of the total geographical area is desert. Average rainfall varies significantly between the western part which receives an annual rainfall of 100 mm, and the south eastern part, which receives 650 mm. The period of monsoon is short compared to other parts of India, ranging around 2 to 2.5 Months (July to September), and dry spells are a common phenomenon. About 90 per cent of the total rainfall is received during monsoon season. There is also great spatial and temporal variation in rainfall. Two thirds of its population is dependent on agriculture, with 70 per cent of the area being primarily rain fed. Common property resources, including pastures, constitute an important component of livelihood assets of communities in semi-arid areas of India and offer vital income and sustenance opportunities in the harsh agro-climatic conditions. Accordingly, Rajasthan has a long history of well-designed management systems for pasture lands. These management systems have emerged in light of the key role that livestock plays in people's livelihoods and for the local economy. Before independence, community pasture land management in Rajasthan was entrusted to 'thikandedars' or 'caretakers' who were appointed by the Princely States. These caretakers were responsible for ensuring the productivity of the pastures. To this end, they adopted soil and water conservation measures, facilitated the growth of vegetation, and controlled livestock rearing. The caretakers were also responsible for preventing misuse and encroachment by the individual villagers After independence, with the transfer of power from the Princely States to the State Government of Rajasthan, the management of common properties was handed over to government authorities at different levels.

Today, common lands in Rajasthan fall under 3 categories: Village community pastures (Charagah or Charnot), which have been entrusted to the Gram Panchayats, revenue wastelands, which fall under the authority of the Revenue Department; and forests, which are under the authority of the Forest Department. The first of these categories, village community pastures, should in theory be accessible to all groups and classes of the rural communities. Sadly, lack of resources and accountability on the part of the Gram Panchayats has resulted in large-scale mismanagement of common lands in many places. The village pastures in Rajasthan are traditionally used for open grazing and are left without fencing, encroachments by individual families have emerged as a great problem that further restricts the community benefits from these lands. Typically, encroachments on common lands are made by the more powerful and influential members of the village community.

RELEVANCE
The mapping of commons is very essential from the development perspective because it predict the current land status which helps in making the plan for that land if it requires any kind of improvement. It enables the village communities to form the institution for the proper management of common resources and also allows these institutions to create rules in the form of byelaws which secure spaces of the poor, women, pastoralists, households owning small ruminants and other disadvantaged groups. It also prevents change in land use by asserting communitys rights on commons through village institutions.

Criticality of Commons
A. Commons are crucial sources of livelihood for rural households. They provide food, fodder and timber to farming systems, animal husbandry, resource conservation and recharge of groundwater. B.Ecologically, the Commons play a vital role in maintaining ecological balance while providing important resources that sustain life maintenance of water cycles, conservation of biodiversity, serving as sinks for greenhouse gases. CPRs are threatened due to encroachments by resource-rich farmers. Over-exploitation of CPRs definitely leads to poor upkeep of these resources. This also points to the fact that traditional institutions have either weakened or disappeared and have failed to enforce norms. Also, Revenue Dept control has never been interested in productivity, being too remote to manage and with lack of funds to develop it as their major role has been more of a record keeper rather than that of developer. The complex nature of land administration has only worked to the disadvantage of the rural poor. To further aggravate the situation is the inconsistencies in land records. Thus, there is visible lack of a long-term perspective towards land. In the present context of aggressive market forces, the absence of a clear land policy addressing the multiple uses of land is bound to jeopardize the interests of landless and the land poor. The size of CPR land has been declining over the years. There has been a steady decrease in all kinds of common landspastures, village forests, ponds or even burial grounds. Diversion of land-use for other purposes has led to reduction in the size of CPRs. This has also been detrimental because Pastoral communities may not be consulted/given recognition in decisions because they are not there, not citizens.

Major reasons for such phenomena being (Lele, 2008) primarily when meeting global needs. The Governments of Gujarat and Rajasthan with a view to bring large area of wastelands under productive utilization have come up with Bio-diesel policies, public-private partnerships so as to grant land on lease basis to big industrial houses and individual; corporate farmers for cultivation of horticulture and bio fuel trees. (2005). Most of the land that is leased for 15 years but is put to uses other than for what it is leased. 90 % of the time this is a land grabbing strategy. Instead of horticulture and bio fuels, the land is put to other uses. Iron ore and granite are very important resources, mostly located in public lands so there has been wanton utilisation of these industrial resources. . 1. Why should we secure Commons?

a. Protection of community rights over Commons through secure tenure b. Allows institutions to create rules in the form of byelaws which secure spaces of the poor, women, pastoralists, households owning small ruminants and other disadvantaged groups (byelaws sheet) c. To prevent change in land use by asserting communitys rights on commons through village institutions (village institution sheet) d. Prevent encroachment from local and external forces by including specific rules in the form of byelaws and strict enforcement of these rules through collective action (byelaws and village institutions sheet) e. To conserve and enhance productivity of Commons by restoration of common lands (Commons and NREGA sheet)

ObjectiveThere are few main objective of FES for which the entire mapping process is being done, these objective are as follows1. To access the current status of available and the encroached land.

2.

To access the current utilization pattern of the commons as well as imparting the knowledge for better utilization of resources.

3.

To create mechanisms, this will ensure the active involvement and participation of all concerned communities and peoples.

4.

To strengthen institutions and coordinating mechanisms for land and land resources, so that they are fully able to implement policies and systems.

ORGANIZATION PROFILE
MISSIONAs ecological security is the foundation of sustainable and equitable development, the Foundation for Ecological Security (FES) is committed to strengthening, reviving or restoring, where necessary, the process of ecological succession and the conservation of land, forest and water resources in the country. Works towards the ecological restoration and conservation of land and water resources, in the uplands and other eco-fragile, degraded and marginalised zones of the country and to set in place the processes of co-ordinated human effort and governance to this end. Undertakes work either directly, or with and through a range of democratic village institutions, their federal bodies, and civil society organisations, set up through initiatives that are ecologically sustainable, socially and economically equitable and provide relief to the poor, in particular. Ensures the ecological integrity of all efforts by working, as far as possible, with entire landscapes, and with all the interrelated communities within it, through a range of arrangements on their land and aquatic resources, whether Commons, Public or Private. Works for and promote stability of the ecosystems through the protection and restoration of biological diversity, including the diversity of species, age diversity, and genetic variability as well as that of structural composition. Collaborates with Panchayat Raj and other democratic village institutions, as well as appropriate civil society organisations, in their efforts to contribute towards the objectives of the Society, and to provide technical and financial assistance to them.

Objective of the Organisation:

To strengthen community based natural resource management and livelihood option to address the economic vulnerability of the tribal households inhabiting the watershed area. Enhancing peoples capabilities for self-development by working for improved literacy levels, better health status and sensitization against oppressive gender relations. Creating sustainable improvements in the livelihoods base by revitalizing the natural resource base of communities. Strengthening village institutions by creating an alternative paradigm of power structures and community interactions that reinforce the positive forces of cooperation, transparency, equity, justice and responsible citizenship. To work towards the stability of shared natural resources, and agriculture production systems and improved agricultural productivity through appropriate soil and water conservation measures. FIELD OF WORK:FES in Andhra PRADESH: - Working in a watershed concept in rain fed areas such as these not only entails the enhancement of biomass and water availability, but also takes into account a long-term perspective and works towards bringing about a balance in the appropriation of natural resources and production needs. FES IN KRANATAKA: - Initiated their activities in 1998 in the upper catchments of the Papagni River, which originate sin Kolar. Today, their interventions reach out to 180 habitations, with village institutions protecting around 8,817 hectares of grazing and degraded forestlands. With active engagement of the Panchayats, custodian rights overgrazing lands were devolved to constitutionally mandated subcommittees of the Panchayats, coterminous with habitations.

FES IN GUJARAT: - Initiated in 1997, their team now works closely with 133 habitations that protect about 7,784 hectares of degraded forestlands and common lands. The focus of the work in the region is to promote robust village institutions that can effectively address the degradation of the forest land and the low productivity of farms. FES IN ORRISA: - Initiated in 1987, the project presently works with 200 community institutions that protect and govern nearly 23,529 hectares of common lands. Commons remain central to the livelihoods of rural communities in this undulating terrain; the forests in the uplands help to retains oil moisture and improve the nutrient flow, providing critical support for the subsistence agriculture practiced by rural communities in the lower reaches of the hills. FES RAJASTHAN: - Initiatives at improving livelihoods are best designed when they are founded on the threshold limits of ecosystems. We subscribe to the view that in many natural environments that are being modified by human activity there is scope for conservation and livelihoods to link and benefit from each other. While in places that are the last refuge of severely threatened species, human activity and impact may be restricted but, in many areas, conservation and livelihoods can be complementary goals and rural communities are best placed to partner in conservation action. The key to sustaining the long term viability of agriculture and animal husbandry, or rural livelihoods in general, lies in strengthening the linkages between the various elements of the ecosystem - like biodiversity, nutrients, water, soil - and adopting an approach of farming systems Other working areras of FES are: - Madhya Pradesh, Northeast areas.

FESS EFFortS to StrEnGtHEn lIvElIHoodS:

We facilitate the development of a well informed vision - a perspective plan with

special focus on the improvement of the natural resource base and a shelf of activities for the Panchayat, enabling them to plan for and implement programmes and activities aimed at improving the livelihoods of their constituents

Cultivate a set of local volunteers to take on the stewardship of the area, enabling

better representation and articulation of the interests of the local communities

Assist local communities in developing a cadre of skilled persons from within to

attend to the local opportunities emanating from NREGA, as well as to improve access to services aimed at strengthening livelihoods and incomes

Engage actively with implementation of the National Rural Employment

Guarantee Act (NREGA) with its focus on creating long-term assets for the community through investments in strengthening the local natural resource base, as well as improvement of the democratic functioning of Panchayats.

Literature Review
Ostrom identifies eight "design principles" of stable local common pool resource management: 1. Clearly defined boundaries (effective exclusion of external un-entitled parties); 2. Rules regarding the appropriation and provision of common resources that are adapted to local conditions; 3. Collective-choice arrangements that allow most resource appropriators to participate in the decision-making process; 4. Effective monitoring by monitors who are part of or accountable to the appropriators; 5. A scale of graduated sanctions for resource appropriators who violate community rules; 6. Mechanisms of conflict resolution that are cheap and of easy access; 7. Self-determination of the community recognized by higher-level authorities; 8. In the case of larger common-pool resources, organization in the form of multiple layers of nested enterprises, with small local CPRs at the base level. Aristotle What is common to the greatest number has the least core bestowed upon it. Clark 1970 concluded: - where a number of users have access to resources units withdrawn from resources will be greater than the optimal economic level of withdrawal. Bhaskar Goswami (report)- According to the report, 15% of the countrys geographical area is under CPR lands, excluding forests, though the latter in practice may be used as common property. The average landholding size stood at 0.84 hectares, while each household had access to 0.31 hectares of CPR land. The average area of

CPR land available to households was highest among the north-eastern states followed by Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, states which also have a high proportion of dry lands. Most frontline Green Revolution states have a relatively smaller share of per Similarly, states with higher population density

household CPR land availability.

predictably reported lower per capita CPR land availability. Peter Barnes says that the commons is all owned by the people because things like public transportation, public education and health care arent always available to people. For each of these mentioned things each of them has a care penalty in which there is a certain fee or tax to use these things provided by the government. This type of common is provided by a certain infrastructure like the government but to have access to it there is taxes on families and health insurance premiums.

Hypothesis
These are the following hypothesis Low management of village institutions is the major causes of encroachment. Low utilization of common resources in some areas causes high encroachment. Proper utilization of common resources can reduce migration and increases the standard of living. Enforcement of laws by the village institutions can reduce the encroachment of resources to a greater extent.

Methodology
What are the steps to identify and map common lands: a. Grazing land i. Organize a Gram Sabha/village meeting to develop a consensus for mapping and claiming the commons ii. Survey and transect to identify the total available grazing land and no. of livestock with respective Patwari/revenue officer and livestock officer, along with community representatives and PRI members iii. Prepare a map of the revenue village/use the Cadastral map to locate the Commons including forests, show which communities use what resource during which season etc, with approximate distance from the habitation iv. Getting copies of cadastral map (naksha), revenue land records (jamabandi), girdhawari and evidence (dastur gawai) v. Gram Sabha resolution regarding the availability of total grazing land 1. Type and total land for secure tenure for specific purpose, e.g. grazing, regeneration etc 2. If the grazing land available is less than what is prescribed, then the community can apply to the Collector seeking conversion of other categories of revenue land to grazing land 3. If there are any encroachments on the grazing land, the Gram Panchayat will write to the Tehsildar for eviction of the same. In case of non compliance the request may be put up before to the Collector. 4. Decision regarding gap in availability and encroachment of grazing land, submitting application to Collector, with

supporting copies to the Patwari, tehsildar and SDM for gap in availability of grazing land or encroachment vi. The institution will apply for claim to appropriate authority (state specific sheet) Primary Data Collection: In primary data collection, you collect the data yourself using methods such as interviews and questionnaires. The key point here is that the data you collect is unique to you and your research and, until you publish, no one else has access to it. There are many methods of collecting primary data and the main methods include: 1 questionnaires 2. interviews 3. focus group interviews 4. observation
Secondary Sources: -

These are sources containing data that have been collected and compiled for another purpose. The secondary sources consist of readily available compendia and already compiled statistical statements and reports whose data may be used by researches for their studies, e.g., census reports, annual reports and financial statements of companies, Statistical statements, Reports of Government Departments, Annual Reports on currency. It includes: 1. Girdhawari 2. Cadastral map 3. Jamabandi

PRA (Participatory Rural Appraisal):- Participatory rural appraisal is an

approach to incorporate the knowledge and opinions of rural people in the planning and management of development projects and programs. The PRA methodology utilizes different tools to seek its goal of a participatory approach for addressing any issue. The following tools:1. Resource mapping: - Resource mapping can be used as an effective ice breaking exercise as well as a tool to investigate the knowledge of the people about their own locality, their resources and their spatial distribution. 2. Focus Group Discussion: - A focus group discussion (FGD) is a group discussion of approximately 6 - 12 persons guided by a facilitator, during which group members talk freely and spontaneously about a certain topic. 3. Transect Walk: - A transect walk is a walk taken by participants and facilitator through the area of interest, observing, asking, listening, looking, identifying different zones, seeking problems and possible solutions 4. Seasonality: - Understanding the seasonality helps in the following aspects: 1. Assists in Monitoring Change: Monitoring Calendar/ Baseline 2. Assists adviser to make estimated projections for the future.

5. Time line: - Time line has helped us in identifying important past events. With this information the team is better informed about the area, community, progress and the problems.

GIS (Geo- Information System): A geographic information system (GIS) integrates hardware, software, and data for capturing, managing, analyzing, and displaying all forms of geographically referenced information.

GPS (Global Positioning System): The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based navigation system made up of a network of 24 satellites placed into orbit by the U.S. Department of Defense. GPS was originally intended for military applications, but in the 1980s, the government made the system available for civilian use. GPS works in any weather conditions, anywhere in the world, 24 hours a day. There are no subscription fees or setup charges to use GPS.