• Where can land be found to be given away to the landless?

According to records, 73.36 lakh acres were declared ‘surplus’ in the country till March 2004, out of which states have redistributed 54.03 lakh hectares. The rest is under dispute. The Ekta Prishad that organised this march argues that since land redistribution halted midway in the 1970s, there is land available to be given away in the form of huge tracts of fake transfers or benami land. Charitable trusts own a large amount of land in the country. Government and certain parts of it like the railways have land far in excess of what they need.

• What is the status of land redistribution in the country?

According to the 2000-2001 annual report of the Ministry of Rural Development, only 1.3 per cent of India’s cultivable land has been distributed to 4.3 per cent of rural households. West Bengal accounts for one fifth of the total land distributed. It redistributed 8 per cent of its arable land. Even in tenancy reform, it was way ahead — while in India, 8 per cent rural households benefited by tenancy reforms, in West Bengal, this figure was 50 per cent.

This fares badly when compared to other countries. In Japan, 60 per cent of rural households have benefited from land reform and in Egypt, 10 per cent.

• Why did people with pattas also participate in the march?

This rally had countless examples of those who possessed a patta but it was not worth the paper it was written on. Either the plot given to them was not demarcated, or the allotted plot belonged to somebody else who did not move out.

... contd.