Unravelling Over 500 Land Laws in India: Why Do We Have Them?
Land laws in India are a complicated set of rules that are usually not very easy to comprehend. However, there is an ardent need to understand and be aware of these laws and rules as they govern the property that we own, rent, buy, or sell.
In this episode, we speak with Dr. Namita Wahi and Nitin Sethi to understand these laws and the relationship between them and how they impact our life on an everyday basis, including in the context of the ongoing climate crisis.
In this episode, we also discuss the upcoming MILL (Mapping Indian Land Laws) database by the Land Rights Initiative which is a repository of land-related legislations in India and how it can help people from all sectors to understand the laws that govern the property around them.
Catch the following questions asked by our host at respective timestamps:
– 03.32: How has the legal and regulatory framework governing land developed over the years in India?
– 07.32: How do you think that the evolving nature of land legislation has shaped land conflicts in India?
– 13.21: How does the MILL database really help people break down this information or symmetries?
– 15.55: How does this help people who are actually involved in the conflict? Do you see them actually going to the database accessing the law, understanding their rights better? What are some other usages of this database that you see?
– 23.10: What about land governance or land administration has to change to be able to take into account the rights of people who are most likely to be affected by climate change risks?
– 28.45: If you had to pick one core challenge that India needs to focus on to secure land rights for a billion, what would that be?
Dr. Wahi is the Founding Director of the Land Rights Initiative, a pioneering initiative in the land policy space. She is a Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi, Global Fellow at the Centre on Law and Social Transformation, University of Bergen and Visiting Professor at National Law School, Bangalore.
Nitin Sethi is a journalist and a partner and editorial advisor at Land Conflict Watch. He is also a member of The Reporters’ Collective and the Media Lead at the National Foundation for India. He has written, reported, and investigated for two decades on the intersections of India’s political economy, natural resources, environment, climate change, economy, public finance, and development.
Tune in to know more!
What Should You Expect From This Podcast Series?
‘Land of a Billion’ brings you expert conversations about the most contentious of the holy ‘roti-kapda-makaan’ trinity – the makaan over our heads, and the larger ecosystem that governs it. From administrative tussles to understanding the conflicts on ground, catch these episodes every alternate Monday for a rundown on the latest charcha around land and property rights in India. In case you missed it, you can also catch up on Season 1 of this series here.
Hosted by Bhargavi Zaveri, a researcher interested in land and access to finance, Land of a Billion is a fortnightly podcast series produced in association with the Property Rights Research Consortium.
Don’t forget to catch the next episode, where we’ll speak to Karan Gulati, Research Fellow at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy to discuss Property Inheritance Rights of Transgender Persons in India.