Overview on common property right and resources in tribal Jharkhand: An anthropological study

The term “common property right” presupposes the existence of (a) Common property resources and (b) the rights of the community over the common property resource. The research studies of these two elements form the main subject matter of inquiry in this paper.

Common Property Resources (CPRS's) constitute all such resources which are meant for common use of villagers. CPR's include all resources like village pastures and grazing lands, village forest, and wood lets, protected and un classed government, forests, waste land, common threshing grounds, watershed drainage, ponds, tanks, river, rivulets, water resources, canals, and irrigation channels. The resources were largely under the control of the local communities. With the extension of State Control over these resources, resulting the decay of the community management system, CPR's available to the villagers declined over the years. Nevertheless, the CPR's still play an important role in the life and economy of the tribal population. Today, the villagers have a legal right of access only on some specific categories of land and water resources.

The tribal land of Jharkhand is neither saleable nor transferable to other. The use of land, in the form of collective farming, can be found thorough out the Jharkhand. Forest and sacred grooves are happened to be the common property. Tanks, ponds, water reservoirs, ahar, pynes are the common for bathing, drinking and irrigations. From the forest, minor forest produces, medicinal herbs, fencing and house making materials, woods for agricultural tools, fuel woods and fodder are the objects of common property and of common use; and are procured from the forest collectively. Water from the water reservoirs are used by one and all of the community or the village; and fishing is also common phenomenon. “Eat together and live together” is the ethos of tribal life.