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Land of a Billion

Hosted by Bhargavi Zaveri, ‘Land of a Billion’ brings you expert conversations about the most contentious of the holy roti-kapda-makaan trinity – the makaan over our heads, and the larger ecosystem that governs it.

Over the last few years, leaders of several countries across the world have realised the organic link between land, property rights, and climate change. Some of them have even started implementing innovative models and programmes around this.

In our final episode of Season 2, we speak with Rachel McMonagle, climate justice and land rights advocate working with Landesa and Krutika Ravishankar – the co-founder of Farmers for Forests, to understand the connection between property, land rights, and climate change. We talk about various climate adaptation strategies with relation to land rights and also analyse the Glasgow Declaration and its outcomes.

We also bring the voices of three farmers from Maharashtra to understand how climate change affects their livelihoods and what are some innovative ways in which they are tackling climate change. 

About The Guests

Rachel McMonagle is a climate justice and land rights advocate and practitioner with experience advancing climate resilience efforts with a social justice focus through non-profit and U.S. government initiatives. 

Krutika is a co-founder at the non-profit Farmers for Forests, where she's primarily responsible for leading the forest and land use monitoring work and providing operations, fundraising and financial management support.

About The Podcast

‘Land of a Billion’ brings you expert conversations about the most contentious of the holy roti-kapda-makaan trinity – the makaan over our heads, and the larger ecosystem that governs it. Listen to Season 2 of this series for a rundown on the latest charcha around land and property rights in India. In case you missed it, you can also catch up on Season 1 of this series here. 

Hosted by Bhargavi Zaveri, a researcher interested in land and access to finance, Land of a Billion is a fortnightly podcast series produced in association with the Property Rights Research Consortium.
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How Climate Change Can be Fought With Secure Property Rights

The 2011 census suggests that four out of five women workers in rural India work in agriculture as owner cultivators or as wage workers. 

However, women farmers continue to be disadvantaged when it comes to access to agricultural land ownership, compared to men. This, often, further denies them their rightful recognition as farmers which in turn, inhibits them from accessing the welfare benefits that are entitled to farmers. 

Lack of reliable data and poor policy framework are some of the key factors contributing to the disempowerment of women farmers. 

In this episode of Land of a Billion, we speak with Shipra Deo, Director of Women's Land Rights at Landesa India and Pranab Ranjan Choudhury, Researcher and Founder Center for Land Governance to understand the various challenges that deny women farmers access to land rights and the hurdles they face while being recognized as a farmer.

About The Guests
Shipra Deo leads Landesa’s work for gender-equal and inclusive land governance in India. She is passionate about the gender dimension of social development and specializes in designing and implementing gender-responsive strategies and programmes including those related to land. In recent years she has done intensive research on inheritance by women and gendered aspects of land laws.

Pranab is a researcher and consultant on natural resources management and governance, with more than 25 years of experience. First as a land use scientist with the Indian Council of Agriculture Research and later as an independent practitioner, he has worked with governments, donors, NGOs, and communities across South Asia, across landscapes, uses, and tenures. He also founded Center for land Governance in 2015.

About The Podcast
What should you expect from this podcast series? 

‘Land of a Billion’ brings you expert conversations about the most contentious of the holy roti-kapda-makaan trinity – the makaan over our heads, and the larger ecosystem that governs it. 

From administrative tussles to understanding the conflicts on ground, catch these episodes every alternate Friday for a rundown on the latest charcha around land and property rights in India. In case you missed it, you can also catch up on Season 1 of this series here.

Hosted by Bhargavi Zaveri, a researcher interested in land and access to finance, Land of a Billion is a fortnightly podcast series produced in association with the Property Rights Research Consortium.

Don’t forget to catch the next episode, which would be the last in the series, where we’ll have an interesting conversation on the intersection of climate change, agriculture, and property rights with Rachel McMonagle, Landesa's Climate Change and Land Tenure Specialist, and Krutika Ravishankar, Co-founder of Farmers for Forests.

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Why Do Women Farmers Still Lack Access to Agricultural Land Ownership?

There are between 60 to 90 million people living in slums across India. Owing to the poor or complete lack of property rights, the slum dwellers across Indian states grapple with issues such as poor access to civic amenities and basic essentials such as water and electricity. 

In this endeavour to help transform the slums into liveable habitats and provide the residents with access to basic amenities, Odisha’s JAGA Mission has emerged as a model programme. In this episode, we discuss the various steps, challenges, and successes of the mission, including how it brought community participation as one of its major steps towards slum upgradation.

We speak with G. Mathi Vathanan, Principal Secretary, Housing and Urban Development, Government of Odisha and Shubhagato Dasgupta, Senior Fellow, Centre for Policy Research and Director, Scaling City Institutions for India, (Sci-Fi) to discuss and understand Property Rights for Slum Dwellers in the state of Odisha through the story of Jaga Mission.

What should you expect from this podcast series?
‘Land of a Billion’ brings you expert conversations about the most contentious of the holy roti-kapda-makaan trinity – the makaan over our heads, and the larger ecosystem that governs it. From administrative tussles to understanding the conflicts on ground, catch these episodes every alternate Friday for a rundown on the latest charcha around land and property rights in India. In case you missed it, you can also catch up on Season 1 of this series here.

Hosted by Bhargavi Zaveri, a researcher interested in land and access to finance, Land of a Billion is a fortnightly podcast series produced in association with the Property Rights Research Consortium.

Don’t forget to catch the next episode, where we’ll speak with Shipra Deo, Director, Women’s Land Rights, Landesa and Pranab Choudhury, Founder & Coordinator, Centre for Land Governance to understand how poor access to land rights disempower women farmers in India.

Tune in. 
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Securing Property Rights for Slum Dwellers: The Successes From Odisha

Over the last few years, technology has made inroads in almost all aspects our lives — work, education, social interactions, governance and even land administration. 

Up until ten years ago, getting a copy of your land records would have meant a trek to the tehsildar's office. However, today, in a majority of districts and states, it is possible to access digital copies online. 

Today, technology is being leveraged to ease the processes of land registration, records and documentation, but there are many challenges when it comes to scaling technology in land administration.

In this episode we discuss the various challenges that comes when using technology for land administration in different states, we also discuss the learnings from different countries who have successfully championed this process.

Tune in!

Host: Bhargavi Zaveri, a researcher interested in land and access to finance, Land of a Billion is a fortnightly podcast series produced in association with the Property Rights Research Consortium.

Guests:
Sanjay Kumar, Secretary, Government of Goa, 
Jagdeesh Puppala, Former CEO, Foundation for Ecological Security (FES) 

Music: Big Bang Fuzz

Follow the series on:
Apple: https://apple.co/3kW1Bra

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3EYTHpf

JioSaavn: https://bit.ly/3AYtoNn

Google Podcast: https://bit.ly/2ZLlOYP
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How Can Technology Help in Providing Secure Property Rights?

It’s been nearly 6 years since the launch of RERA (Real Estate Regulation & Development Act) scheme which seeks to offer consumer protection to home-buyers as well as help boost investments in the real estate industry. Has the act been effective to solve problems of fraudulent housing and promise safe buy of property without worry?

Join us as we speak with Neetu Vasanta and Shilpa Kumar to discuss the scheme’s implementation in different states across the country and also talk about the implementational challenges. We also discuss the challenges that the industry faces along with consumers while buying property under the act.

Host: Bhargavi Zaveri, a researcher interested in land and access to finance, Land of a Billion is a fortnightly podcast series produced in association with the Property Rights Research Consortium.

Guests:
Neetu Vasanta is the Managing Director and Partner in BCG's New Delhi office, and leads the topic of the real estate sector for BCG in India. She is a core member of BCG's Industrial Goods Practice Area.

Shilpa Kumar is a Partner at Omidyar Network India, a social impact investment fund Shilpa provides overall leadership, including strategy and investments, across the areas of Digital Society, Urban Governance, Access to Justice and Property Rights initiatives. She also leads policy work in Financial Inclusion and in development of the Non Profit sector strategy.

Music: Big Bang Fuzz

Follow the series on:
Apple: https://apple.co/3kW1Bra

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3EYTHpf

JioSaavn: https://bit.ly/3AYtoNn

Google Podcast: https://bit.ly/2ZLlOYP
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

RERA Act: How Effective Has it Been to Offer Consumer Protection to Home Buyers?

The property rights of transgender persons, including their right to inheritance, have garnered little attention. Considering that ‘immovable property’ is the largest and most valuable asset for a significant population in India, access to property plays a vital role in elevating the social standing of persons. 

This is of particular importance since transgender persons have low income, savings, and little to no access to housing. Inheritance, therefore, becomes an important channel for access to property. 

In observance of the Trans Awareness Month, through this episode, we aim to shed light on how India’s inheritance laws continue to impede access to property for trans persons. 

Tune in to this episode as we speak with Karan Gulati, Research Fellow at National Institute of Public Finance and Policy to analyse the laws around inheritance rights of transgender persons and to know how these laws have evolved in India. We also bring voices from within the trans community to understand the many challenges that they face when trying to buy or rent a property.

What is 'Land of a Billion' About?

‘Land of a Billion’ brings you expert conversations about the most contentious of the holy roti-kapda-makaan trinity – the makaan over our heads, and the larger ecosystem that governs it. From administrative tussles to understanding the conflicts on ground, catch these fortnightly episodes every alternate Friday for a rundown on the latest charcha around land and property rights in India. In case you missed it, you can also catch up on Season 1 of this series here. 

Hosted by Bhargavi Zaveri, a researcher interested in land and access to finance, Land of a Billion is a fortnightly podcast series produced in association with the Property Rights Research Consortium.

Don’t forget to catch the next episode, where we’ll speak with Neetu Vasanta, Managing Director and Partner BCG India and Shilpa Kumar, Partner, Omidyar Network India to look back on five years of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act and its contribution to India’s housing market.

Host: Bhargavi Zaveri, a researcher interested in land and access to finance, Land of a Billion is a fortnightly podcast series produced in association with the Property Rights Research Consortium.

Guests:
Karan Gulati is a research fellow at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, as part of an interdisciplinary research group and is a lawyer in Delhi. He works in the areas of property rights and judicial administration. He also writes for the Leap Blog and has been an occasional columnist for the Indian Express and the Times of India. He holds degrees in law and management from Symbiosis International University.

Music: Big Bang Fuzz

Follow the series on:
Apple: https://apple.co/3kW1Bra

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3EYTHpf

JioSaavn: https://bit.ly/3AYtoNn

Google Podcast: https://bit.ly/2ZLlOYP
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How Inheritance Laws Continue to Hinder Access to Property for Trans Persons

Land Laws in India are a complicated set of rules that are usually not very easy to comprehend. However, there is an ardent need to understand and be aware of these laws and rules as they govern the property that we own, rent, buy or sell. In this episode, we speak with Dr. Namita Wahi and Nitin Sethi to understand these laws and the relationship between them and how they impact our life on an everyday basis, including in the context of the ongoing climate crisis. 

Dr. Wahi is the Founding Director of the Land Rights Initiative, a pioneering initiative in the land policy space. She is a Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi, Global Fellow at the Centre on Law and Social Transformation, University of Bergen and Visiting Professor at National Law School, Bangalore. Nitin Sethi is a journalist and a partner and editorial advisor at Land Conflict Watch. A member of The Reporters' Collective and the Media Lead at the National Foundation for India. He has written, reported and investigated for two decades on the intersections of India's political economy, natural resources, environment, climate change, economy, public finance and development.

In this episode, we also discuss the upcoming MILL (Mapping Indian Land Laws) database by the Land Rights Initiative which is a repository of land-related legislations in India and how it can help people from all sectors to understand the laws that govern the property around them. 

Tune in to know more!
 
What is 'Land of a Billion' About?

What should you expect from this podcast series? ‘Land of a Billion’ brings you expert conversations about the most contentious of the holy roti-kapda-makaan trinity – the makaan over our heads, and the larger ecosystem that governs it. From administrative tussles to understanding the conflicts on ground, catch these episodes every alternate Monday for a rundown on the latest charcha around land and property rights in India. In case you missed it, you can also catch up on Season 1 of this series here. 

Hosted by Bhargavi Zaveri, a researcher interested in land and access to finance, Land of a Billion is a fortnightly podcast series produced in association with the Property Rights Research Consortium.

Don’t forget to catch the next episode, where we’ll speak to Karan Gulati, Research Fellow at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy to discuss Property Inheritance Rights of Transgender in India. 

Host: Bhargavi Zaveri, a researcher interested in land and access to finance, Land of a Billion is a fortnightly podcast series produced in association with the Property Rights Research Consortium.

Guests: 
Dr. Namita Wahi is the Founding Director of the Land Rights Initiative, a pioneering initiative in the land policy space;
Nitin Sethi is a journalist and a partner and editorial advisor at Land Conflict Watch.

Music: Big Bang Fuzz

Follow the series on:
Apple: https://apple.co/3kW1Bra

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3EYTHpf

JioSaavn: https://bit.ly/3AYtoNn

Google Podcast: https://bit.ly/2ZLlOYP
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Unravelling India’s Land Laws: Why do we have over 500 land laws and what impact does it have?

With the motive of opening up the rental housing markets in India, the Union government passed the Model Tenancy Act, 2021. The MTA aims to provide a framework for transparency in renting property, minimising litigations and disputes between tenants and landlords by laying a clear set of clauses. The act also proposes to set up rent courts and tribunals to solve conflicts in the rental housing market.

In this episode, we speak with Gautam Chatterjee, former Chairperson of MahaRERA, the Real Estate Regulatory Authority of Maharashtra, and Sahil Gandhi, an urban and real estate economist associated with the Centre for Social and Economic Progress and a lecturer at the University of Manchester. We discuss the Model Tenancy Act, what it means for the housing market and common man, and its implementations by states.

We also discuss the study on ‘India’s housing vacancy paradox: how rent control and weak contract enforcement produce unoccupied units and a housing shortage at the same time’, co-authored by Sahil Gandhi, Richard K Green & Shaonlee Patranabis from the Centre for Social and Economic Progress.

Tune in to know more!

What is 'Land of a Billion' About?

‘Land of a Billion’ brings you expert conversations about the most contentious of the holy roti-kapda-makaan trinity – the makaan over our heads, and the larger ecosystem that governs it. From administrative tussles to understanding the conflicts on ground, catch these episodes every alternate Friday for a rundown on the latest charcha around land and property rights in India. In case you missed it, you can also catch up on Season 1 of this series here.

Hosted by Bhargavi Zaveri, a researcher interested in land and access to finance, Land of a Billion is a fortnightly podcast series produced in association with the Property Rights Research Consortium.

Don’t forget to catch the next episode, where we’ll speak to Namita Wahi, Founding Director at Land Rights Initiative and Nitin Sethi, journalist, and Partner at Land Conflict Watch to discuss how the multiplicity of land laws in India has an impact on land conflicts and what the research fraternity has been working on to tackle this problem.

Host: Bhargavi Zaveri, a researcher interested in land and access to finance, Land of a Billion is a fortnightly podcast series produced in association with the Property Rights Research Consortium.

Guests: 
Gautam Chatterjee is the former Chairperson of MahaRERA, the Real Estate Regulatory Authority of Maharashtra;
Sahil Gandhi is an urban and real estate economist associated with the Centre for Social and Economic Progress and a lecturer at the University of Manchester

Music: Big Bang Fuzz

Follow the series on:
Apple: https://apple.co/3kW1Bra

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3EYTHpf

JioSaavn: https://bit.ly/3AYtoNn

Google Podcast: https://bit.ly/2ZLlOYP
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Model Tenancy Act: What Does It Mean for India’s Rental Housing Market?

Many parts of India are affected by a number of land acquisition disputes that stretch over years in courts. 

A 2017 study by Daksh shows that over 30% of the civil cases in India involve land and property disputes, many of which relate directly to land acquisition. Even though land acquisition litigations are expensive, time draining and goes for years without settlement, people are filing cases every day. 

In this episode, we speak with Leah Varghese, a researcher who has been studying land-related disputes for a long time. Leah is a researcher with Daksh and has extensive knowledge in land acquisition disputes and the law around it. We will also be discussing the research by Daksh which examines the nature of land acquisition litigation in the states of Maharashtra and Karnataka. 

Tune in to know more!

What should you expect from this podcast series? ‘Land of a Billion’ brings you expert conversations about the most contentious of the holy roti-kapda-makaan trinity – the makaan over our heads, and the larger ecosystem that governs it. From administrative tussles to understanding the conflicts on ground, catch these episodes every alternate Monday for a rundown on the latest charcha around land and property rights in India. In case you missed it, you can also catch up on Season 1 of this series here. 

Host: Bhargavi Zaveri, a researcher interested in land and access to finance, Land of a Billion is a fortnightly podcast series produced in association with the Property Rights Research Consortium.

Guest: Leah Varghese, researcher with Daksh. She has an extensive knowledge in land acquisition disputes and the law around it.
 
Don’t forget to catch the next episode, where we’ll speak to Gautam Chatterjee, former Chairperson of MahaRERA and Sahil Gandhi, a lecturer at the University of Manchester and a researcher associated with the Centre for Social and Economic Progress, to discuss the Model Tenancy Act which was approved by the Union Cabinet on June 2021."

Music: Big Bang Fuzz

Follow the series on:
Apple: https://apple.co/3kW1Bra

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3EYTHpf

JioSaavn: https://bit.ly/3AYtoNn

Google Podcast: https://bit.ly/2ZLlOYP
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Land Acquisition Disputes in India: What does the Law Say and How It Impacts Those Involved

Land is one of the most important financial assets for Indians, and yet also one of the most disputed. Many of us have experienced the frustration over not being able to access reliable and accurate ownership records or maps of the land we own or wish to buy. 

Digitisation has been increasingly seen as the solution to improving land records and services in India, as it eliminates redundant labour and human error while simplifying the task of updating records, and also makes it more accessible for the people. The Government of India has been working towards this since the late 1980s, however, the progress on digitisation is yet to meet the mark.

In order to measure this progress and identify the areas where states were performing poorly on digitisation, the National Centre for Applied Economic Research (NCAER), under the Property Rights Research Consortium, formulated a framework called the NCAER-Land Records and Services Index (N-LRSI) in 2019 to gauge the extent of these schemes and rank states and analyse their progress. NCAER has so far published two editions of this Index.

In this episode we explore various questions and dilemmas around the digitization process in a state and also explore how the N-LRSI pushes states to do better. 

To what extent has digitization of land records happened and what are the various policies states are working on to make the process easier and inclusive? 

What does the Index mean for a common man and for the states which are still in process of developing a comprehensive policy on digitization? 

How has it pushed states to expand their digitization process?

We speak with Deepak Sanan, a former civil servant and an advisor for projects on land governance, water and sanitation at NCAER and Vivek Kumar Singh, the Additional Chief Secretary, Revenue and Land Reforms in the government of Bihar.

Tune in to know more!

Host: Bhargavi Zaveri 
Guest: 
Deepak Sanan, Former civil servant & Advisor for projects on land governance, water and sanitation at NCAER
Vivek Kumar Singh, the Additional Chief Secretary, Revenue and Land Reforms in the government of Bihar

Music: Big Bang Fuzz

Follow the series on:
Apple: https://apple.co/3kW1Bra

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3EYTHpf

JioSaavn: https://bit.ly/3AYtoNn

Google Podcast: https://bit.ly/2ZLlOYP
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Digital Land Records: How Can it Help The Common Man and Where Does India Stand?

With farmers at the forefront of the political discourse today, what are some of the more structural issues which are a part of the larger ecosystem of agriculture in India?

For instance, with leasing out of agricultural land prohibited or restricted in most parts of the country - how does this affect the actual tiller of the land? Are they entitled to the same benefits as land-owning farmers? How do these laws affect the agricultural productivity in our country?

In this context, we talk about the Model Agricultural Land Leasing Act drafted by NITI Aayog's special cell on land policy in 2016, and how it could help address some of the issues affecting farmers in our country today. Five years from when the Model Act was drafted, we look at what have been some of the broad conversations around the proposed tenancy reforms, including some of the criticisms against the Act. Tune in!

Host: Abhishek Shah
Guest: Dr T Haque, Agricultural economist & former Head of the Land Policy cell, NITI Aayog
Music: Big Bang Fuzz
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How Can Reforms to Land Tenancy Laws Help Farmers?

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