Master thesis

8.0Appendix

8.1Appendix I: Description of Terms

This section will describe some general terms and categories concerning Common Property Resources, governing institutions and Rajasthan in general.

De Jure/De Facto: The NSSO¹⁷¹ uses two categories, 1) de jure and 2) de facto CPRs, to recognize the use of the commons across different land management regimes in India.

De Jure common lands is defined by the NSSO to be; “a resource becomes common property only when the group of people who have the right to its collective use is well defined, and the rules that govern their use of it are set out clearly and followed universally”. This method has been used for the collection of data on the size of CPRs.

De Facto CPRs includes resources such as revenue land not assigned to Panchayat¹⁷² or a community of the village, forest land, or even private land in use of the community by convention. All such land in practice used as common resources (including common use of private property confined to particular seasons) is treated as CPRs for data collection on benefits accruing to villagers even if they are located outside the boundary of the village¹⁷³. This approach was adopted for collecting information on use of CPRs and was extended to include resources such as revenue land not assign to Panchayat or a community of the village.

The varying jurisdictions of government agencies and the categories of land-use that they designate largely determines which CPRs are de facto or de jure. The laws carry provisions for custodianship of these lands. The three categories of land-use relevant for this study are 1) pasturelands, 2) forestlands, 3) other government-owned lands, and Oran/Gochar/Devbani lands.¹⁷⁴

Pasturelands: The Rajasthan Land Revenue Act allocates pastures and grazing lands to local Panchayat bodies based on livestock population. Encroachment on pastures is prohibited under section 4291. Even though this is the case on the legal side, in reality most encroachment has been conducted on pasture lands. These pasture lands are in now in the possession of the panchayats, but most of them only exist on paper and have been massively encroached upon¹⁷⁵. This is due to both the easier access, the general quality of the land and the chance of getting the land allotted or regularized through government policies.

Forestlands: The Forest Conservation Act (FCA) of 1980 restricts conversion of forestlands for non-forestry purposes, prohibiting the conversion of land to agriculture through encroachments, allotments, and diversion. The Forest Rights Act (FRA) of 2005 recognizes the livelihood usage of forestlands, even for individual uses. Many also feared that it would turn into a land distribution scheme. To date, implementation has been slow and complicated, with numerous filings for individual property rights and very few for community forest rights, while verification of livelihood use of the forests has been delegated to the village level Forest Rights Committee (FRC).

Other government-owned lands: The Rajasthan Revenue Department is the responsible local authority. These lands are called Revenue Wastelands, which can be allotted to private citizens for cultivation or set aside as commons for Gram Panchayat¹⁷⁶ management for a renewable 25-year term.¹⁷⁷ A sub-category of Revenue Wasteland is Barren and Uncultivable Land, which cannot be allotted. Finally, Gram Panchayats control Pasture Land, placed under their control by the Rajasthan Land Settlement Act of 1955. Government surveys change the designation of particular lands over a time through conversion¹⁷⁸, although most land designation remains unchanged from the surveys and settlements completed in the 1950s and 1960s. In the wasteland category, there are many cases of encroachments which have shrunk the area of what is regarded by the community as common land, thereby putting additional pressure for sustaining livelihood in the poorest households. The chance of getting the land allotted is one of the major reasons so many continue to encroach, and it could be said that it acts as an incentive for the illegal privatizations.

Oran/Devbani & Gochar: The Oran/Devbani and Gochar have traditionally been an extremely important source of fodder for the livestock in addition to it significant religious importance, which is why Oran and Gochar have been protected since times immemorial. Naturally, this is why the Gods are associated with the Oran and Gochar. For example Devi Bhadariya Rai Oran, Baba Ramdev Oran etc. It is commonly held in, that to cut one bush of Oran equals the sin incurring in killing one cow. Thus, the Orans are protected with religious connotation. It was mandated since ancient times that each village ought to be supplemented with one Oran. Without an Oran there could be no village and there would be a public feasts when the Oran were established. Legally the Oran is part of the Area not available for cultivation but due to its importance both socially and for fodder needs, the area is viewed as a separate and independent category.

The Mukhiya of the village used to mark the Oran by pouring a white cow’s milk or Kesar around the circumference of Oran. From morning to evening the extent up to which the area was marked was considered Oran. The Oran was named after the God of the dominant caste of the region. Then nobody dared to cut any tree or bush in fear of angering the god. Any person who disobeyed the rules would be ousted from the village and the village land was considered included in the Oran area.

Each village used to have its own Gochar and Oran which were protected by the whole village, due to the religious significance. Each village would have four or five Mukhiyas that would be “wardens” of the Oran. The Mukhiyas would select one person as responsible for the protection of Oran who in turn used to get an animal or some money as pay. If that person would find anyone cutting any tree from the Oran he would prevent that person from doing so or would penalize the offender in the presence of the other Mukhiyas. The offender would be considered an outcast from the village. However no such incidents used to occur because people were religiously respectful towards Oran.

The people in Jaisalmer are majorly livestock holders, and are dependent on the Oran and Gochar for fodder needs, due to the harsh environment in the region. There used to be no governmental support, like it is today, in wake of a drought. therefore, all animals were dependant on Oran and Gochar to provide enough fodder. It is said that even if it was a drought for two years at a stretch, the Orans and Gochars could provide enough fodder. Even if one accepts this likely overstatement, most grasses with a very high nutrition level have become nearly extinct now in Jaisalmer District. Not only the animals but also the people of the village used to depend upon Oran and Gochar for vegetables and other food sources, and this in relation to the general degradation of the surrounding lands.

Panchayat: Local governing institution. The term is also used for the leader of the institution.

Gram Panchayat: A larger governing institution, usually a grouping of villages form a Gram Panchayat for governance on a larger scale, but still fairly local. It can also concern only one village if the population is over a minimum of 300 and it has significant importance in the region, such as market access and infrastructure to the larger cities.

Bigha: Is a unit of measurement of area of land used in Nepal, Bangladesh and in a few states of India, like Rajasthan. The precise size of one bigha varies considerably; in Udaipur: 1 hectare = 4.5 bigha; in Jaisalmer 1 hectare = 5.5 bigha

Anicuts: Small dams to hold back the run of water during the monsoon and to increase the deep percolation.