State of Common Property Land Resources (CPLRs) in Tamil Nadu: Macro-Level Evidence

Common Property Land Resources (CPLRs) play a pivotal role in the livelihoods of rural households, especially those of poor. The present study attempted to analyse the trend of CPRLs in different periods of Tamil Nadu in general and the study districts in particular during the period 1950–51 to 2010–2011. This paper is a part of the major research project funded by the University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi. The results of the study show that the estimated CPLRs in Tamil Nadu was 25.7 percent in 1950–51 and it declined to 13.3 percent in 1980–81 and then it increased to 19.1 percent in 2010–11. Further it reveals that the per capita availability of CPLRs was 0.10 hectare in 1950–51 and it declined to 0.03 hectare in 2000–01. The per capita availability of private land was 0.26 hectare in 1950–51 and it fell down to 0.13 hectare in 2000–01. The availability of CPLRs in the wet district (Theni) in 1996 was 10.5 percent and then it increased to 24.4 percent in 2007 and again it had come down to 12.6 percent in 2012. Whereas in the dry district (Ramanathapuram), it was 10.8 percent in 1986 and it increased at 26.39 in 1996 and then it came down to 13.3 percent in 2012.