om e 's Ali a - Land ss De elo en - Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, India Office

esources in Rajasthan, having
potential for equitable accessibility
to all classes of the rural population.
Rajasthan has 1.94 million hectares of
common pasture land and common
land form, more than 70 per cent of
the total geographical area. Jatropha
cultivation severely limits the ability
of the commons to support rural
livelihood comprehensively. Livestock
is the major source of livelihood
for the poor and they are heavily
dependent on the common pastures
for the grazing of their cattle. The
destruction of the livelihood of
pastoralists and livestock herders such
as Gujjars have already led to major
riots in Rajasthan.
There have been other changes that
endanger local communities such
as permitting the wasteland to be
leased out to private companies and
government enterprises for up to 20
years and the abolition of both the
maximum size of a plot that can be
held by an individual or company as
well as the provision of ban on the
sale of tribal land. Under these rules
30 per cent of benami or degraded
forest land, known as wasteland, in
the district can be given to corporate
houses, while the rest can be given
to others. By making these rules,
Process of Land Alienation
Rajasthan Government has facilitated
the handing over of grazing lands
in villages to institutions; selfhelp
groups of BPL families, village
forest protection and management
committees, village panchayats,
agriculture co-operative societies,
societies, government undertakings
and companies or corporate houses.
Here Rule 3 section (2) says that
preference will be given to those
Government undertakings and
companies which undertake to
Plant Ratanjot (Jatropha), Karaj and
other similar bio-fuel plants and to
establish processing units, refineries,
composite units, value addition of
such bio-fuel plants and processing
and establishing nursery for high
quality plants and seeds.
Under Rules (6) I, II, III, the wasteland
shall be allotted to Government
undertakings, companies and the
societies on leasehold basis, while it
shall be allotted on ghair khatedari
basis to all the persons i.e. self-help
groups, forest security committees,
village panchayats and cooperative
societies. In this group, excluding
the village panchayats all other
groups are non-registered. With
rich and powerful persons getting
registered themselves in BPL lists,
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