By Priyanka Singh | Project Associate
Ummedpura, is a small tribal village in south Rajasthan. It has around over 95 families residing with traditional farming and livestock being their major source of income for which they relied on the common lands of the village, jointly owned by the village community – the “commoners”.
A few years ago, villagers noticed that their common land had been gradually encroached by some influential families, who used the land for their individual profit. To combat this, the villagers wrote complaints to the government administrative, but due the political influence of the encroachers, no action was taken.
With the help of Seva Mandir established village development institution, the commoners then protested the illegal encroachment and held strike. The collective agitation and voice of commoners built significant pressure on government bodies and made the land free from encroachers with completed legal documentation done in favor of the villagers, the common land was free from the shackles of encroachers.
Over 6000 saplings were replanted at Ummedpura common land and a boundary wall was built around it. Today, Ummedpura common land continues to be the rich pool of resource that shall help the commoners to prosper, while maintaining ecological harmony and defeating radical land abuse through private capitalization. Seva Mandir continues to work on commons and build on its ecology through community-based approach which is centered on principles of inclusiveness, participation and transparency.
We thank all our donors for believing our work and helping us achieve this milestone. We do hope that you will once again extend your generous support for our communities.
Our best wishes to you, and, again, thank you for supporting our marginalized communities. You are now a part of their lives, too.
Kind regards
Ronak Shah
Chief Executive
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