“the biggest grab of tribal lands after Columbus”

In 1951, the ‘landless agriculture labour’ numbered just 27.3 million which went up to 144.3 million (or 14.4 crore) in 2011. The landless are, in fact, the “poorest of the poor”

 The Socio-Economic and Caste Census of 2011, which acknowledged and counted landlessness is a major indicator of poverty, put the ‘households with no land’ at 56.41 percent of total rural households or 101 million households. With a mean household size of 4.9 in rural India (as per the 2011 Census), the number of landless comes to 494.9 million.

The rural development ministry’s Committee on State Agrarian Relations and Unfinished Task of Land Reforms pointed out that landlessness had witnessed a phenomenal rise from about 40 percent in 1991 to about 52 percent in 2004-5.

Sociologist Walter Fernandes’ study pegged the figure of people disposed of their land at 60 million during the period of 1947 to 2004, involving 25 million ha of land. 

The report particularly referred to the alienation of tribal land as “the biggest grab of tribal lands after Columbus” in which the state was held complicit. It considered alienation of land and other critical natural resources to be at the root of the social unrest and violence in the Maoist-affected areas.

NSSO data shows that the average landholding (including landless) in rural India has gone down from 1.53 ha in 1971-72 to 0.59 ha in 2013 — it halved between 1992 and 2013 — and 92.8 percent of rural households own less than 2 ha each. It also reflects another disturbing phenomenon -- marginalisation of rural landholdings. The larger landholdings of 1 to 10 ha or more are gradually shrinking since 1971-72 with more and more households falling into the marginal category (0.002- 1 ha).

The 2013 draft National Land Reform Policy explains: “Landlessness is a strong indicator of rural poverty in the country. Land is the most valuable, imperishable possession from which people derive their economic independence, social status and a modest and permanent means of livelihood. But in addition to that, land also assures them of identity and dignity and creates condition and opportunities for realizing social equality. Assured possession and equitable distribution of land is a lasting source for peace and prosperity and will pave way for economic and social justice in India.”

 The 2018 UNDP-OPHI report shows India “still has the largest number of people living with multidimensional poverty in the world (364 million)” – which is “higher than the combined populations of the most populous Western European countries, including Germany, France, UK, Spain, Portugal, Italy, the Netherlands and Belgium”. Of the 364 million MPI poor, 113 million — or 8.6 percent of India’s population — live in “severe poverty”.
https://www.firstpost.com/india/indias-landless-poor-amid-rising-rural-poverty-and-lower-access-to-land-empowering-this-group-must-be-priority-5338711.html