Land rights have been slowly moving to the centre stage of Dalit consciousness. Taking the process forward, a people-led movement is underway in some districts of the Malwa region of Punjab. This is being led by the organisation Zamin Prapti Sangharsh Committee (ZPSC) who have undertaken a Dalit Mukti March.
The march is underway mainly through the villages of Malerkotla, Sangrur and Patiala. It aims to generate awareness around the land rights for and among the Dalits.
“This march had started on August 20 and we had initially planned to hold it over a period of one month, till September 20. But the response has been very good and we have now extended the itinerary by another fortnight. We plan to now conclude it at Sekha village in Barnala from where the journey of ZPSC had started,” Mukesh Malaudh who leads the organisation, said .
He added, “this is also an exercise in expanding the ambit of our organisation. We would have carried it on but looking at the looming Panchayat elections in Punjab we will be wrapping it up around the first week of October.”
It needs to be highlighted here that Punjab has the highest number of Dalit population in terms of the percentage of the total population. The figure stands around 32%.
Like in other parts of the country, there are specific issues pertaining to the community in this state as well. Despite Dalit leaders like Kanshiram emerging on the political scene and the Congress party toying with having a Dalit chief minister in Charanjit Singh Channi, there is much that needs to be done for the upliftment of the community. This is what organisations like the ZPSC continue to work for.
Till now the march has moved through more than 200 villages and the target is to cover at least 300 of them. The exercise has espoused enthusiasm as village after village has been greeting the participants and organising langars (community meals) for them.
A key element of the exercise has been the ‘Jaago’ processions that are being carried out as a tool of awareness among the masses. The traditional Jaago that is sung by the family of a bride on the occasion of a marriage, has attained a symbolic relevance here as the participants are using this cultural format to awaken the people on their rights.
One of the prime issues being raised is the implementation of Punjab Land Ceiling Act of 1972 in letter and spirit. This Act aims to limit the size of landholdings and redistribute land.
“If this law is implemented at the ground level in Punjab, landless Dalits can also get more than three acres of land,” points out a pamphlet being circulated among the masses.
The second is the right of the Dalits to get one third of the village common lands for which ZPSC has consistently been fighting a battle for more than a decade. It has been stated often that although the Punjab Village Common Land Act, 1961 provides for renting 33% of the village common lands to Dalits, this has rarely been practised.
The lands are duly auctioned but are often obtained by the powerful lobbies through proxy. Dalits claim that there is 1.57 lakh acres of common land of Panchayats in Punjab out of which the Dalits are entitled to cultivate one third of it.
Through their struggle Dalits have gained access to this share of common land at some places and have even experimented with co-operative farming there in the recent past. This has not been easy as they have faced social boycotts and violence for raising their demand.
Malaudh said that there is a demand that the annual auction is stopped and the land is given to a co-operative society at a minimal rate.
The next issue being raised during the march pertains to the implementation of the Nazool Lands (Transfer) Rules of 1956 that allow Scheduled Castes land-owning cooperative societies to be formed in villages with 10 acres or more of Nazool land. Malaudh told this reporter, “While the ground work on this has been done the Dalits are yet to get the ownership.”
He added, “At the onset of every election whether it is at the Panchayat, assembly or parliamentary, the politicians come and promise five marla residential plots to the poor.
“But they have been ensuring that the exercise does not take off and the issue gets entangled in paperwork. Housing is a major concern among the poor people, a large number of whom are obviously Dalits. During the course of our march we have witnessed families residing in very small spaces.”
Then there is the issue of ownership of houses falling in the ‘lal dora’ segment of villages and towns. The Channi government had launched the ‘Mera Ghar Mere Naam’ (My house in my name) but the poor complain that the registration is still a far cry.
“With no property in their name these poor people have no access to institutional borrowing. With the result they fall in the trap of microfinance companies and face harassment and exploitation.
“These companies charge high rates of interest and make absolute recoveries while the government does not recognize such borrowings as debt. In many cases the borrowers are poor women on the margins of society,” Malaudh added.
Those joining the march are also raising the important issue of proper implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA). They have been pointing out that the people in Punjab have been getting employment under the Act for far fewer than the stipulated 100 days.
They are demanding that the number of days for employment should be increased, as well as the daily wages.
The issue of social boycott of the Dalits is also being talked about as the march moves ahead. It is being underlined that there is reluctance on the part of the authorities to invoke sections of Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and in case these sections are invoked there is a tendency to register cross cases.
The Dalits claim that in majority of the cases the emphasis is to compel the aggrieved party to compromise with the guilty person. In case the complainant does not agree to a compromise there is often a delay or reluctance to present a challan in the court and all this amounts to denial of justice.
The march comes at a time when the issues of peasantry and farm labour are at the centre stage of Indian polity. Combined with the issue of land rights of Dalits it can serve as a major tool in generating consciousness among the masses.