Monday, October 29, 2007

Day Eighteen: voice of landless heard in India?


This is a really interesting, significant and ultimately encouraging story. For several weeks, people from India's rural communities have been marching to the capital, Delhi, to protest threats to land ownership. Some have never had secure tenure; others are under pressure to give it up to business interests. All are worried about their prospects of longer term survival without land. The best brief summary of the issues I've seen is in the Hindu newspaper: http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/29/stories/2007102960281200.htm (the photo here is also from the Hindu, courtesy AP). The title above links to a more recent BBC story, reporting that the Indian government has today set up a panel to resolve this and other land issues. This is a big undertaking. But it may prove critical, if India's development is to offer gains for all its (one billion) citizens.

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