The most promising avenues for protecting rights of access to common land for the rural poor are through efforts to raise public awareness and access to information. Some NGOs in Orissa have been successful in pursuing public interest litigation to defend tribal land rights. Following their lead, the strengthening of local panchayats could make a vital contribution towards promoting the watchdog function of civil society institutions. Only with strong civil society institutions will there be effective demand from below for accountability within the lower levels of land revenue administration, thereby limiting the possibilities for evasion of the legislation designed to prevent encroachment on commons. With such safeguards in place, the computerization of land records at tehsil level would also contribute towards making information on the extent of encroachment more publicly accessible.

_Land leasing (tenancy):_ The Orissa Land Reforms Act prohibits sub-letting of land, regulates rents (to a maximum of one quarter of gross produce), and grants occupancy rights to long-standing tenants. In spite of these restrictions, tenancy remains widely prevalent, under 'illegal' contracts which landlords and tenants have a common interest in concealing. This accounts for widespread under-reporting of the area leased-out (and, to a lesser extent, leased-in). The best available estimates suggest that on average, around 20 percent of farm households participate in the land-lease market, and that over 80 percent of leasing activity (both in and out) is by small and marginal farmers.

There is wide inter- and intra-regional variation in both leasing activity and the terms of tenancy contracts. Sharecropping is the predominant form of tenancy contract in Orissa, accounting for perhaps half of the total leased-in area, although it is declining over time in favor of fixed-rent contracts (whether in cash or in kind). Share tenancy remains more prevalent in non-irrigated villages, owing to its greater potential for risk-sharing between tenants and landlords. In irrigated villages, fixed-rent tenancies may now account for three quarters of land-lease contracts. Contract terms vary widely, depending on the respective labor and capital contributions of tenant and landlord, the crops being produced, and extent to which the physical location of the leased-out plots permits close supervision. Regardless of the nature of the contract, rents are invariably higher than the legally stipulated maximum of one quarter of gross production.

The land-lease market is clearly an important means by which the rural poor gain access to land. While there is little evidence of exploitative relations between landlords and tenants, there is some evidence that markets for other factors - particularly labor and, to a lesser extent, credit - are interlinked with the land-lease market. These interlinkages explain why it is also in tenants' interest to conceal tenancies, and why tenants are reluctant to press claims for lower rents or more secure rights of occupancy. Under these circumstances, liberalization of land-lease markets may well enhance access to land by the rural poor, but will be of most benefit to them if they can also be assured access to institutional credit. The liberalization of the land-lease market, as proposed in the draft Orissa Revenue Administration Bill, and supported by Govemment of India policy under the Ninth Plan, is therefoTe cautiously to be welcomed, provided that the right balance can be struck between assuring landlords of their long-term ownership rights, and assuring tenants of their security of tenure and protection under the law for the duration of fixed-term tenancy contracts. Only with documentary evidence of such rights are tenants likely to face the possibility of access to institutional credit.

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