Dalit-Adivasi in
Uttar Pradesh and the question of land
- S R Darapuri,
National Spokesperson, All India People's Front
According to
the 2011 census, the total Scheduled Caste (Dalit) population in Uttar Pradesh
is 4.13 crore, which is about 21% of the total population of Uttar Pradesh.
According to the same census, there are 61.91 lakh families of Dalits in Uttar
Pradesh, which is 23% of the total families of Uttar Pradesh. Similarly, the
total population of Scheduled Tribes (Adivasi) in Uttar Pradesh is about 11.34
lakhs, which is about 1% of the total population of Uttar Pradesh. There are
about 1.77 lakh tribal families in this.
According to
the above census, about 42% of the Dalit families in Uttar Pradesh are landless
and do manual labour. Only 2.93% of the Dalit families are employed in
government, 1.14% in non-government and 1.92% in private sector i.e., only
about 6% are employed. The remaining 94% are in wage earning and other
professions. Similarly, 35.30% of tribal families are landless and do manual
labour. Of these, 3.54% are in government, 1.63% non-government and 2.95% in
the private sector, i.e. 8% of the families are employed. The remaining 92% are
laborers and in other professions.
According to
the same census, 82.40% of the Dalit households in Uttar Pradesh have an income
of less than 5000 per month. The income of 13.25% of the households is between
5000 to 10,000 and 4.29% of the households have income above 10,000 per month.
The number of families with income above 5000 from government jobs is only
2.71%. According to the 2011 census, 81.35% of the tribal families in Uttar
Pradesh have an income of less than 5000 per month. The income of 13.82% of the
households is between 5000 to 10,000 and 4.81% of the households have income
above 10,000 per month. Only 3.31% percent of the households have an income of
more than 5000 from government jobs.
As per 2011
census, 15.69% of Dalit families in Uttar Pradesh have unirrigated land, 42.06%
have irrigated and 9.12% families have other land. Similarly, 28.16% of tribal
households had unirrigated land, 39.33% had irrigated and 12.50% had other
land.
It is clear
from the above description that the Dalits of Uttar Pradesh are mostly
landless, low income and unemployed, which is the main reason for their social,
economic and political backwardness. Being landless and doing manual labour
only, they mostly work as agricultural laborers in the village. They also have
to go to other's fields for pee and fodder for their animals. Being landless
and unemployed, they have to face the tyranny and exploitation of the upper
castes. Marking this weakness, Dr. Ambedkar in his speech in Agra had said, “My
rural brothers are subjected to atrocities because they do not have land. That
is why now I will fight for the land for them.”
It is also well
known that India is an agricultural country and about 60% of its population is
associated with agriculture as farmers and agricultural laborers. It is also
clear from the above data that in Uttar Pradesh also most of the Dalits and
Adivasis are landless and they can do only manual labour. Landlessness and mere
manual labour are their greatest weaknesses. Due to these, neither they are
able to face the atrocities on themselves due to caste discrimination and
untouchability nor fight with force on the question of wages. Since employment
in agriculture is only seasonal, they have to search elsewhere for wages or
remain unemployed for the rest of the time.
In rural areas
it is also a fact that land is not only a means of production but it is also a
symbol of respect and social status. The person who has land in the village is
not only financially strong but also socially respected. Now since most of the
Dalits have neither land nor regular employment, they are neither socially
respected nor financially strong. Dalits in rural areas can be empowered only
when they have land and get regular employment. Therefore, the distribution of
land and availability of secure employment is the first need of the Dalits and
Adivasis and other landless.
After India
became independent, land reforms were implemented by abolishing the zamindari
system to redistribute resources in the country. By this, land ceiling laws
were made in the country, from which land was to be made available for
allotment to the landless. But there was a lot of dishonesty in implementing
these laws because at that time most of the leaders in the ruling party
Congress were old zamindars and this class also dominated the administration.
That is why, on the one hand, very little land came out of these laws and
whatever came out was not distributed to the landless. As a result, the people
who had the said land before the implementation of these laws remained with
them. Even today thousands of acres of land remains in the name of benami and
trusts and temples in different states. Same is the situation in Uttar Pradesh
also.
It is clear
from the analysis of the socio-economic and caste census data that the question
of land is the most important question for Dalits and Tribals of the rural
area, which is not possible to solve without the proper implementation of land
reforms. But it is a great irony that land reforms and land distribution is not
on the agenda of any Dalit or non-Dalit political party. Therefore, empowerment
of Dalits and Adivasis is not possible unless they are provided land by land
distribution.
It is to be
known that in Uttar Pradesh from 1995 to 2012, Mayawati was the Chief Minister
four times. During her reign, except the central and western regions of Uttar
Pradesh no land was distributed in the remaining parts in 1995 and 1997. In
eastern Uttar Pradesh, which has the most dense population of Dalits, except in
Gorakhpur, no land was allotted anywhere, that too due to the efforts of one
officer (Harish Chandra, Commissioner Gorakhpur). It is not that land was not
available for allotment in Uttar Pradesh. In 1995, in Uttar Pradesh, so much ceiling
land, village common and Bhoodan land was available that not only the Dalits
but also the landless of other castes could get subsistence land, but Mayawati
did not allot it. Not only this, no action was taken to get possession of the
land which was allotted earlier. After 1997, neither allotment nor any
possession was given due ti sarvjan politics.
When the
Mulayam Singh Yadav government came to power in Uttar Pradesh in 2002, he
amended the Revenue Act to change the land allotment priority of Dalits and merged them with other landless
classes. There was land allotment in his government, but the land was given to
other castes and not to the Dalits. Along with this, by amending the law, he
also removed the ban on the purchase of Dalit land by non-Dalits. At that time
this legal amendment was postponed, but later he duly gave it the form of law.
Thus, due to Mayawati's non-allotment of land to Dalits, Mulayam Singh
abolishing the priority of allotment of land to Dalits in law, the allotment of
land to the Dalits of Uttar Pradesh could not be done and their condition in
rural area remains very pathetic.
For the
empowerment of Tribals, the Forest Rights Act- 2006 and Rules were implemented
in 2008. Under this law, tribals and non-tribals living in protected forest
areas were to be given lease of residential and agricultural land in their
possession. The Tribals had to submit their claims in this regard. At that
time, Mayawati's government was in Uttar Pradesh, but her government did not
take any effective action in this direction, as a result of which out of total
92,406 claims submitted by Tribals in Uttar Pradesh on 30.01.2012, 74,701
claims i.e. 81% claims were rejected and only 17,705 i.e. only 19% of the
claims were accepted and a total of 1,39,777 acres of land was allotted.
Seeing the
negligence of Mayawati government in allotment of land to Tribals and the
anti-Dalit/tribal mindset, All India People's Front had filed a public interest
litigation in the Allahabad High Court, on which the High Court in August 2013 directed
the state government to reprocess all claims under the Forest Rights Act. But
no attention was paid to that too. Thus, 81% of the claims were rejected due to
the negligence of the government of Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav due to their anti-Dalit/Adivasi
mindset.
Let us now see
the role of the Yogi government of the BJP regarding the implementation of the
Forest Rights Act. It is well known that BJP had written in its Sankalp Patra in
the 2017 Vidhan Sabha elections of Uttar Pradesh that if its government is formed
then all illegal encroachments of land (gram sabha and forest land) will be got
vacated. After the formation of the government in March 2017, Yogi government immediately
started taking action on it and in compliance of this, those people who were in
possession of the gram sabha land and the forest land were to be evicted from
them. According to this order, 74,701 claimants who were rejected for forest
rights in 13 districts were also to be evicted. When the Yogi government
started the eviction proceedings, we again had to go to the Allahabad High
Court against it. We requested to stop the eviction proceedings and re-examine
all the claims. The Allahabad High Court, on our request, stayed the eviction
proceedings and gave one month’s time to all the claimants to file appeal on
the old claims and gave the government the time three months’ time to re-hear
and dispose of all the claims. But even after the expiry of the said period, no
action was taken by the Government in this regard.
A few years ago,
the validity of the Forest Rights Act was challenged in the Supreme Court by
the Wildlife Trust of India and a request was made to order all the state
governments to vacate the land related to the claims rejected under the Forest
Rights. The Modi government did not take the side of the tribals / forest
dwellers in the Supreme Court. As a result, the Supreme Court passed an order
to vacate the land of all the rejected claims of Forest Rights by July 24,
2019. Due to this, the number of families affected in the entire country is 20
lakh, of which 74,701 families are in Uttar Pradesh. Against this order, we
again appealed to the Supreme Court through the Adivasi Vanvasi Mahasabha, in
which we requested for stayed of eviction order and direct all the states to re-examine
all the claims. On this, the Supreme Court, accepting our request, stayed the
eviction till July 10, 2019 and ordered all the states to re-hear all the
claims, but no action has been taken on it in Uttar Pradesh even after the
lapse of two years.
It is clear
from the above description how the government of Mayawati and then Akhilesh
Yadav has deprived the Dalits, Tribals and traditional forest dwellers from the
right of land under the Forest Rights Act and the sword of eviction hangs on
them in the BJP government. It is worth considering that if Mayawati and
Akhilesh Yadav had given the rights of land to these people after processing
the claims of these people during their tenure, then their condition would not
have been so pathetic today. Similarly, if Mayawati had given pattas of gram
sabha land, which is still in the possession of the oppressors, to the landless
during her reign, how much their economic condition would have changed.
Therefore, it is worth considering whether Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav, who
have been forming the government in the name of social justice, have given any
social justice to the Dalits and Tribals. BJP talks of harmony instead of
social justice, which is status quoism. Will the Dalit-Tribals of Uttar Pradesh
not seek answers from SP, BSP and BJP for the above injustice done to them in
the upcoming Vidhan Sabha elections?
Therefore, if
real empowerment of the Dalits and Adivasis of Uttar Pradesh is to be done, it
can be done only by strictly implementing land reforms and allotting land to
the landless. For this the desired level of political will is needed which is
totally lacking at present. Therefore, there is a need to launch a strong land
movement to implement land reforms and to allot land to the landless
Dalits/Adivasis. This movement cannot be run by opportunistic and caste
politics party like BSP because it abstains from all types of movements. The
Samajwadi Party also does only power politics. It too has nothing to do with
the empowerment of Dalits and Adivasis.
All India People's Front has always given a
prominent place in its agenda for land reforms and land allotment and has
fought for it in court as well as on the road. The same party had also obtained
orders by filing public interest litigations in the Allahabad High Court and
the Supreme Court for the honest implementation of the Forest Rights Act in
Uttar Pradesh, which was thwarted by the governments of Mayawati and Akhilesh.
Therefore, the AIPF calls upon all Dalit/Adivasi friendly organizations and
Dalit political parties to Come on a common stage to create a public pressure
to include land reforms and land allotment in the agenda of all political
parties in the 2022 elections of Uttar Pradesh.
