Common Property Resource Management: A Community Based Action by Haldikudi Village Committee

Publication Date: 2005
Document Type: Case Study (Microsoft Word)

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Can the common property of the village be used for income generation?

This paper documents the success of common property management. It defines common properties as resources, which are available to the whole community or village to which no individual has exclusive ownership or property rights.

The paper argues that the ownership of the common property should be handed over to a people’s institution that has social acceptance and legal recognition. To prove this point, it cites the success story of the Haldikudi Village Committee in Orissa, India, which was assisted in its efforts by the Gramin Vikas Trust (GVT), in common property management.

The paper lists the activities of this committee as follows:

• 30 acres of barren land, which had not been utilized for years, was used for the plantation of cashew. GVT assisted by providing 3000 cashew seedlings, training people and organizing exposure visits;
• The village committee produced the “Asoka-228” paddy seed variety in common land, assisted by GVT;
• The village committee:
  • cultivated groundnut in 5 acres, and potatoes in 6 acres of common land;
  • undertook the cultivation of mushrooms, honey bees and poultry;
  • cleaned and renovated a huge, muddy pond and started a pisciculture unit;
  • used the degrading forest of the village to plant eucalyptus trees.

The paper concludes by listing the reasons for the success of the village committee activities:

• Participation of all stakeholders;
• Consent of the villagers for the income generating activities and management of common resources;
• Capacity building and training by GVT.