#Trending : Land Ownership Rights To Now Be Granted To Women Working On Their Husband’s Lands. A Great Step Towards Empowering Women!
There is an old expression in the English language which talks about giving credit where it’s due. An expression that has blissfully been ignored when the ones on the receiving end have been women. It is no surprise that women all around the world, and obviously in our country too, have been subjected to systematic patriarchy. We are recognised by the last names of our male counterparts, offered education and jobs at their mercy and sometimes even allowed to be born, because one man out there didn’t feel too threatened by a girl child. But, they say times are changing. Slowly and steadily, but in a positive direction.
We say this particularly after coming across the news of the Uttarakhand government that is now planning to offer the women working their husband’s fields, an ownership in it too. A move that has honestly stumped most men as it has delighted the women.
Amending the Uttarakhand Zameendari Abolition and Land Reforms Act, Chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat announced on Tuesday that he aimed at facilitating the ownership rights of the lands to the women who have been putting equal work and labor on the fields owned by their husbands, especially in the hilly areas of the state.
Uttarakhand to give land ownership rights to women working in their husband’s fieldshttps://t.co/SPJ0fuAYIq
— Hindustan Times (@HindustanTimes) July 21, 2020
Also Read : #Trending: Several Women In Madhya Pradesh Ploughed The Fields Instead Of Bulls Because Of A Superstition That This Will Please The Rain Gods. What Even?
This would imply that the rule of land ownership passing on to the sons of the family instead of the daughters and daughters-in-laws would now be changed to benefit the daughters and the wives of the husbands also. Rawat said, “Traditionally in the hilly areas, men and their wives are involved in the farming on their land. However, men are largely involved in just heavy labour intensive work like ploughing of field and remaining about 90% farming related works are done by their wives only. Despite that they don’t have any ownership of that piece of land but their husbands.”
Women and men from across 18 villages raised issues related to land and forest rights before Chief Development Officer at a district level meeting organised by ARPAN, an ally of @actionaidIndia in Pithoragarh district, Uttarakhand. https://t.co/HZb0cZtvCa
— ActionAid Association (@ActionAidIndia) July 1, 2019
He further explained, “Due to this, if any woman wants to take some loan for any farming related work on the field, they are denied because they don’t have the ownership of the land. Once this amendment is introduced in the aforementioned Act, they will also have the ownership rights of the land along with their husbands and take loan.”
This new rule is a landmark for women. The Chief minister also said, “Till now it is somewhat unfair, that despite doing the maximum work in fields, they don’t have any ownership of the land. Once they are also given the ownership, it will also make them more self-dependent and help in women empowerment in the state.”
