Give the call a boost: Sign the petition to give 5 acres of agricultural land to Dalit women

To: Dr. Manmohan Singh
Hon. Prime Minister of India

&

Ms. Sonia Gandhi
Chairperson, United Progressive Alliance
And Indian National Congress party Chief

Respected Sir and Madam,

We are writing to urge you to provide 5 acres of agricultural land and 5 cents of homestead land to every Dalit landless woman in the country.

Dalit women in India, around 100 million, make up a large chunk of the country's agricultural labour. Yet the producers of food often go hungry. Though they work on land, few own land. According to rough estimates, only 2 to 3\% Dalit women have land. Nor do they have any right over resources.

Also, they face untouchability and sexual violence. Centuries of discrimination by dominant castes have placed Dalit women resolutely amongst the poorest of the poor.

As the real farmers, Dalit women's right to land is a key step in eliminating hunger and rural poverty, but government measures remain conflicting and inadequate to empower them economically.

Often revenue ministers of various states come out with government orders which assign land wherever available to the landless poor for agricultural purpose. But these orders often remain on paper, or are superseded by new government orders denying access to land.

The central government has acknowledged the need for improved access to land and natural resources, especially by women, in the framework of international commitments at World Food Summit 1996 and its Plan of Action; in the Voluntary Guidelines on the Implementation of the Right to Food unanimously adopted by FAO Council; and at the FAO International Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ICARRD) that was hosted by Brazil in March 2006. Our Indian Constitution also stresses the need for equitable and equal distribution of land and other resources.

But this has not been corresponded with the necessary action.

Hence we request you to scale up efforts to give land to those it belongs. We urge you to ensure:

5 acres of agricultural land to every Dalit landless woman
5 cents of homestead land to every Dalit family
End of violence and discrimination against Dalit girls and women

This petition was started by Kommupalem Srinivas on behalf of Dalit Samakhya and Dalit Mahila Samakhya.

We endorse Dalit women's campaign for land rights and freedom from violence.