Oran forum - Background note and policy recommendations

Common lands are an invisible resource from the point of view of revenue classification. The Rajasthan Land Revenue and Panchayati Raj Acts make no mention of issues related to common lands. However, from one perspective it can be claimed that the state has almost half of its total geographical area being put to community use, notwithstanding its specific legal and revenue status. Thus, if in addition to village commons and community forests, grazing and unculturable lands referred to as "wastelands" in revenue categories are also regarded as community accessed lands then the proportion of ‘common lands’ becomes very large indeed. Of the various types of community lands, perhaps the most significant are the community forests known locally as Orans or Dev Banis. It is quite surprising that despite their critical importance with regard to local livelihoods as well as biodiversity conservation there is considerable ambiguity regarding their legal status and ownership.