Moreover, under existing practices of partible inheritance, land consolidation can only ever be a temporary, or stop-gap solution to the problems attributed to land fragmentation, since the gains achieve will be eroded over time with the subdivision of holdings upon inheritance.

# **4.3 Land encroachment**

One way in which the rural poor and other socially excluded groups compensate for their lack of access to and control over privately owned arable land is through access to common and public land (Meams, 1998). Of course, non-poor and larger landowners also seek to increase their effective landholding by occupying common land. Commons in Orissa amount to around 20 percent of the total area of the state, including (see Table 1):

- 'barren and uncultivable wastelands' (3 percent of total area) which are set aside for public or communal purposes and are not generally liable for revenue;

- 'cultivable wastelands' _(peromboke,_ 3 percent area) which have been cultivated in the past but have been left uncultivated and subsequently purchased or otherwise acquired by the government;

- 'permanent pasture and other grazing lands' _(gochar,_ 4 percent area); and

- village forests (9 percent area).

The first three categories are revenue lands and the last is owned by the Forest Department. All four categories fall within village boundaries and are also known as village lands. The land revenue department classifies village lands into 'non-objectionable' and 'objectionable' lands. Only government-owned cultivable wastelands constitute 'non-objectionable' land, which may be granted to landless households as described below. The 'objectionable lands' include _gochars,_ cemeteries, village roads, all forest lands, tanks, tank beds, and river embankments. None of these lands should be encroached upon for settlement or cultivation. The reality, however, is very different.

Land encroachment is the result of:

- **_loopholes_** _in_ **_land reform_** _legislation:_ The Orissa Estate Abolition Act, 1952 was biased in favour of estate owners as it allowed them to keep 33 acres for personal cultivation. All tenants on the 'resumable' area of each estate were evicted for fear that they would otherwise acquire ownership rights to the land. The Orissa Tenant Protection Act, 1948 and the Tenant Relief Act, 1955, while seeking to protect tenants from unlawful eviction, could not be enforced adequately owing to the absence or manipulation of land records. Evicted tenants were thus compelled to eke out an existence by encroaching on government or common lands;

- **_displacement_** _as_ **_a result_** _of_ **_development activities:_** Inadequate attention tends to be paid to resettlement and rehabilitation of people displaced by large development projects (dams, irrigation schemes, mining operations, etc.) (see Box 11). To the extent that displaced communities are resettled at all, they are frequently allocated remote land of poor quality. Consequently, displaced people tend to encroach, illegally, on nearby government land;

- _lax_ **_implementation_** _of_ **_existing land_** _laws by_ **_revenue officials:_** For instance, those who encroach on government land are required to be 'booked' by the revenue inspector (RI) and have proceedings initiated to evict them. However, encroachment represents an opportunity for rent-seeking by revenue officials. Instances of encroachment on public and common land are overlooked, in return for a suitable consideration, usually payable annually. This practice clearly encourages encroachment in the long-run, and favours larger landowners who are most able to pay the requisite bribes;

49