Women constitute 60% of the agricultural labor force in India, yet they only own 13.96% of agricultural lands, according to the Agricultural Census 2015-2016. Indian society’s low regard of rural women means they cannot inherit or own land, making them economically dependent on others. Discriminatory practices deny women their basic rights, even though the Hindu Succession Act recognizes their right to share in family properties. These women farmers are not regarded as farmers, and cannot access support from the State.
It is worse for Dalit women as the Dalit communities are historically denied land rights. With the country’s prevailing caste system, this oppressive hierarchy based on ritual purity and occupation considers Dalit women, along with indigenous women, the lowest of the low. With more and more men migrating to cities in search of better-paying jobs, agricultural work has faced a significant decline and this has caused heavier burden to women’s work in rural areas.
Society for Rural Education and Development (SRED) works to fight for Dalit women’s rights to land and their access to resources. Founded in 1979, SRED is a network of four state-level women’s movements and 14 mostly women-led village-level movements from 350 villages in three districts in Tamil Nadu, India.
It is in this light that the Tamil Nadu Dalit Women’s Movement and the Tamil Nadu Women’s Forum mobilized Dalit and tribal women to reclaim lands in their villages under the Land Reform Act. The lands had been illegally occupied, uncultivated and left to become wastelands. Through the reclamation of these lands, Dalit women have successfully undergone collective farming, thus empowering them and allowing them to take their rightful places in agriculture. To date, some 1322 acres of land granted to landless Dalit and tribal women remain unclaimed as the women are unable to locate and get the deeds for these lands.
With SRED’s support, thirty Dalit women in Maharajapuram mobilized themselves and endured a lengthy struggle, putting up a strong fight against the State’s bureaucrats for their land titles, until they finally succeeded. These Dalit/tribal women formed the Grameen Makhila Abiviruthi Sangatna (Rural Women Farmers’ Development Collective) as part of the Tamil Nadu Dalit Women’s Movement.
Intent on cultivating and making their land productive and environmentally sustainable, the movement leaders from Maharajapuram underwent training in agroecological methods, organic farming, natural pest control and compost making. They collected traditional seeds through conducting a bullock cart yatra (bullock cart campaign seeking traditional seeds). The seeds were then stored in earthen pots. As a result, the Dalit women of Maharajapuram were able to develop the rocky, thorny-bushed, and uncultivable land for collective farming.
Through collective farming, these women pooled in their collective labor and supported each other. They were able to grow vegetables and mangoes, and earned through multiple crop cultivation. They used their harvest for domestic consumption and shared them with other women in need. Excess produce was sold in local markets in nearby Thirutani and Chennai Koyambadu.
The Dalit women of Maharajapum have gained recognition as farmers and have become members of the Agriculture Cooperative Society. This alone is a major victory in the assertion of Dalit women’s right to land. Furthermore, they also contested and got elected in local level elections, with some elected as ward members in the local governing unit, Panchayat.
Today, the Dalit women of Maharajapum are striving to continue their successful collective farming in order to support each other and their community.
This article was originally published in the SRED website and has been edited for length and clarity with permission from SRED. The Maharajapuram Dalit community needs support in the installation of a new irrigation system.
Account Name : Society for Rural Education and Development
Account No: 40207635789 (FCRA savings Account )
Branch Code:00691
IFSC : SBIN0000691
SWIFT : SBININBB104
Address : FCRA Cell, 4th Floor, State Bank of India, New Delhi Main Branch, 11, Sansad Marg, New Delhi 110001
For any inquiries or if you wish to contact the leaders directly, please do not hesitate to contact them through the following: R.Subbamma – Mobile No: 9361978957 or R.Sujatha – Mobile No: 9344258731.
