Securing Land Rights for Women: Government Land Allocation in Odisha

Abstract

Though progressive legislation was intended to increase access to land for the livelihood and sustenance of the landless and rural poor in Odisha, women’s land ownership status is not reflected in government records, leading to a lack of accurate data regarding titles in their names and their land rights. Additionally, single women are invisible, subsumed within families, rather than considered as a separate category, and are not even mentioned in government records. This chapter assesses Odisha’s land reform programmes for rural poor and landless households, the extent of their implementation and existing gaps therein, and evaluates integrated approaches and measures for landless and single women.