ECONOMIC empowerment in an agricultural society is directly linked with the ownership of farmland. A majority of the 45pc of the country’s population connected with agriculture does not own such a vital productive asset and remains marginalised.

The access of landless peasants to food, health, education and participation at the political level is thus compromised.

Pakistan has so far witnessed various forms of land reforms in bits and pieces which have not been very effective. The first two were introduced by Ayub Khan and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, in which lands taken over by the state from the landed gentry were distributed amongst peasants. The more effective one, proposed by Bhutto, was set aside when his government was toppled by Zia-ul-Haq.

This was followed by a programme of distribution of state-owned land among the landless peasantry by Benazir Bhutto’s first government. The Nawaz Sharif regime gave away land in the katcha area along with some other cultivable land. Then in 2008, the PPP’s Sindh government launched the Landless Hari Programme.

For the time being, the latest programme has been suspended after completion of two of its stages during which 6,100 beneficiaries received 56,186 acres between years 2008 to 2011. The third phase is yet to commence. So far, land has been distributed in 17 districts, with a support package amount of Rs110.576m for the beneficiaries. The package included provision of cash, seed, urea, fertiliser, thrasher and pesticides.

Women became economically empowered and were happy. There were cases where they didn’t cultivate crops on their land for one or another reason. But the programme’s continuity is crucial’

In his 2008-09 budget speech, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah had announced his plans to distribute 225,000 acres of land, including 136,784 acres of irrigated land, 45,358 acres of katcha area and 30,757 acres in the rain-fed area. The programme was specific to female peasants, aiming to empower them. The women’s sense of gender discrimination was removed when they got such a valuable asset.

During the first phase, 78pc the beneficiaries were women, but subsequently the land allotted to men was transferred in the name of female members of the same family. In the second phase, ownership was given to women alone, subject to the condition that it would not be sold for at least 15 years. The government had engaged NGOs and the media to ensure transparency. A consortium of NGOs distributed the support package, inclusive of Rs14,500 per acre.

“Women became economically empowered and were happy. There were cases where they didn’t cultivate crops on their land for one or another reason. But the programme’s continuity is crucial,” argued Dr Sonu Khangarani, an NGO representative who had been associated with the programme.

There are success stories. According to a study conducted by the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (Piler), the women beneficiaries experienced positive changes in their life following the allotment of land. Piler interviewed 50 families of Badin post-land distribution. Its booklet points out that the women under debt are now able to clear it; they have built or improved their own houses; bought household items of their own choice instead of depending on the men in their families; and they feel financially secured now.

Ishaq Soomro, the head of an NGO, is currently campaigning for the resumption of the programme. He says land distribution should be seen in the backdrop of land reforms, which itself is an important issue. Land is available in the katcha area for distribution, and he noted that the rural women work on farms and manage livestock.

Despite the many success stories, the programme was not hassle-free. In 20pc of the cases, according to Piler’s booklet, the allottees faced legal issues. There were cases in which the allotted land was found to be part of the sea in coastal areas, or was covered with sand dunes or irrigation water was not available. In some instances, the land was either part of a graveyard or simply not cultivable.

Some of the allotted land was also found to be under illegal occupation, and, in some cases, women had to make multiple number of appeals to get final documentation, like forms-VII, from revenue authorities. Powerful landowners of the area also continue to occupy lands as well.

Piler’s Karamat Ali, who is pursuing the land reforms case in an apex court, says the government hasn’t distributed 225,000 acres as promised. It is easily understandable that a peasant woman will earn more if she works on her own land instead of that of other landowners. But the government is delaying the programme.

The Sindh government’s coordinator for relief, Senator Taj Hyder, says the government has identified more land for distribution after the two phases In Tharparkar, the government has decided to ensure that 20 acres of land should be brought under cultivation in the periphery of every reverse osmosis water filtration plant, run by solar energy.

The women who got non-cultivable land are waiting for the transfer of cultivable pieces of land as per the policy. Likewise, the irrigation department, which was supposed to include women allottees in the water-sharing list, did not put such a system in place. They purchase water from neighbouring landowners.

Similarly, revenue authorities have not issued passbooks to enable them to apply for bank credit for buying farm inputs.

Published in Dawn, Economic & Business, March 9th, 2015

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