Archive · 29 Nov 2025
Civil Society Calls for Land Retrieval Law
A group called AIFWI, which has over 150 women scholars, writers, and activists, says that poor people are losing their land because of cities and industries growing.
They want the government to make a new law to give back land that was taken unfairly and share it with those who need it.
They say that 26.8 lakh hectares of land have been taken from communities, and many people don't have any land at all.
They also say that land owned by temples, which was supposed to be for everyone, is now being used by a few people.
AIFWI believes that having land is important for people to have jobs, respect, and a sense of who they are.
AIFWI alleges that marginalised communities are losing land due to urbanisation and developmental activities.
They propose an overarching law to recognise land as a source of livelihood and retrieve underutilised or wrongly acquired land.
26.8 lakh hectares of common or forest land have been transferred into state-led land banks, sidelining community rights.
50 to 60 per cent of people in India are landless or own no farmland.
AIFWI suggests that a substantial portion of cultivable land is held under religious endowments, often encroached upon or leased.
- Who
- All India Forum for Women Intellect (AIFWI)
- What
- Proposed a law for land retrieval and equitable distribution
- When
- Thursday (specific date not mentioned)
- Where
- New Delhi
- Why
- To address land rights violations and marginalisation due to urbanisation and developmental activities
- Organisation
- All India Forum for Women Intellect (AIFWI)
- Land Transferred
- 26.8 lakh hectares
- Landless Population
- 50 to 60 per cent
- Affected Communities
- Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, forest dwellers
- Land Use
- Religious endowments, temple lands
