Privatisation of Commons for the Poor-Emergence of New Agrarian Issues

Emergence of New Agrarian Issues Milind S Bokil In the literature on common property resources (CPRs) privatisation is often decried on the ground that it deprives the rural poor from a critical source of livelihood and only benefits the rich and powerful sections of society. The problem, however, gets complicated when the poor themselves encroach upon the commons for their livelihood needs. Such a situation has arisen in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra where the dalits have encroached upon the village common lands to establish ownership. A number of important agrarian issues arises in this context AN important agrarian issue in countries like India, where rural poverty is directly related to agricultural backwardness, is how do the poor secure their livelihood? The corollaries are, how do they establish access to important agricultural resources like land, water and trees and what strategies are adopted by them to retain the control? What are the consequences of their actions in terms of agrarian social relationships? What effects do changing environment and state policies have upon them? And so on.