Common property resources

Also called: CPRs · Topic: Land Use, Farming Systems and Cropping Seasons in India · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 3 "Land Resources and Agriculture"; Class 12, Ch 9 "Geographical Perspective on Selected Issues and Problems"

Meaning

Common property resources (CPRs) are land and natural resources that are owned by the state but meant for the whole community. Every member has the right to access and use them, with duties attached. No one has property rights over them. Examples are village pastures, community forests, ponds and threshing grounds.

They matter because they supply fodder, fuel wood and minor forest products to the people with the least land. When the commons shrink, rural poverty and women's daily workload both get worse.

Explanation

Private land and common property

• By ownership, land is of two kinds:
• Private land: owned by one person or one household.

• Common property: owned by the state and meant for the community.

• Main features of CPRs:

• Access and use rights for all. Every member of the community can use them.
• Duties come with the rights. Users should not overgraze, and they should help look after the resource.
• No property rights. No one can sell the land or fence it off for themselves.
• Group management. They are managed by a group larger than one household.

Types of CPRs and what they give

• Types:
• Community forests
• Pastures and grazing lands
• Village water bodies such as ponds and tanks

• Public spaces such as threshing grounds (open ground where harvested grain is separated from the stalks)

• What they supply:

• Fodder for animals
• Fuel wood for cooking and heating
• Minor forest products such as fruits, nuts, fibre and medicinal plants

Who depends on them

• Landless people and marginal farmers
• They have little or no land of their own.

• So they rely on the commons for fodder and fuel, and for part of their income.

• Women

• In villages, women usually collect fuel, fodder and water.
• When the commons shrink, women must walk farther and work longer hours every day.

Why the commons are shrinking

• Land is fixed, but demand keeps growing.
• A larger population and a growing economy bring even poor, marginal land into use.

• Urban sprawl, solar parks and highways squeeze farmland, pastures and village commons from all sides.

• N.S. Jodha's field studies (1980s) were done in villages of dry tropical India and published in Economic and Political Weekly (1986). They found that CPRs were shrinking because of:

• Privatisation: common land was handed to private holders through land-distribution schemes, or taken by richer farmers.
• Encroachment: people slowly took over common land for farming or building.

• Result: the poor lost fodder, fuel and income. The commons that remained were overused and degraded.

• Tragedy of the commons:

• When a resource is open to everyone and no one is responsible for it, each person takes as much as they can.
• Over time the resource is overused and ruined.
• The fix is clear community rules, not open access. This is why CPRs come with duties as well as use rights.

Where it occurs

• All over rural India: village pastures and grazing lands, community forests, ponds, tanks and threshing grounds.
• Dry tropical India: this is where N.S. Jodha's 1980s village studies recorded the commons shrinking through privatisation and encroachment.
• Edges of growing cities, and land along new highways, economic corridors and solar parks: here pastures and village commons are lost to non-farm uses.
• Forest-dwelling communities across India: under the Forest Rights Act (FRA) 2006, run by the Government of India, communities get community forest resource (CFR) rights. CFR rights mean the right to protect, regrow, conserve and manage their customary forests through the Gram Sabha (village assembly).
• Up to 31 October 2023, 23,43,009 land titles (individual and community) covering about 1.81 crore acres had been given out under the FRA [2].

Don't confuse with

• Private land: owned by one person or household, who can sell or fence it. CPRs belong to the state and are meant for the community, and no one holds property rights over them.
• Open access resource: anyone can take from it, and nobody has any duty or rules to follow. This leads to the tragedy of the commons. CPRs carry duties with their use rights and are managed by a defined community.
• Permanent pastures and grazing land (land-use category): this is one of the categories in India's land-use records. It is only one type of CPR. CPRs also include community forests, water bodies and public spaces.
• Culturable wasteland: land left unfarmed for more than 5 years that can be reclaimed. This is a land-use category, while a CPR is an ownership category. Reclaiming such land for farming can eat into the commons.

Prelims Hooks

• CPRs are owned by the state and meant for the community. They are not owned by the community or by any individual.
• Members have use rights with duties, but no property rights. No one can sell or fence off a CPR.
• CPR examples: community forests, pastures and grazing lands, village ponds and tanks, threshing grounds. CPR products: fodder, fuel wood, minor forest products.
• N.S. Jodha (1980s, dry tropical India; EPW 1986): commons shrank because of privatisation and encroachment.
• FRA 2006 recognises community forest resource (CFR) rights, managed through the Gram Sabha. By 31.10.2023, 23.43 lakh titles covering about 1.81 crore acres had been given out [2].
• Trap: "CPRs are open-access resources with no obligations on users" is wrong, because use rights come with duties.

Mains Points

• Commons and equity (GS-I):
• CPRs supply fodder, fuel and minor forest products to the landless, marginal farmers and women.

• Jodha's 1980s studies showed privatisation and encroachment shrinking the commons. This made rural poverty and women's work burden worse.

• New pressure on the commons (GS-III):

• Urban sprawl, solar parks, highways and economic corridors are taking pastures and village commons.

• Responses:

  • Place solar parks on degraded land instead of farmland and commons.
  • Plan compact city growth.
  • Record and protect commons in land records.

• Managing the commons well (GS-III):

• Avoid the tragedy of the commons through clear community rules, with duties attached to use rights.
• Strengthen community control, for example CFR rights under the FRA 2006 through the Gram Sabha. By October 2023, 23.43 lakh titles had been given out [2].

Related concepts

• Land-use changes in India

Read more

• Land-use change and the commons