CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2018
| Author | Priyadarshini, Vidita |
|---|---|
| Title | Decentralised Land Governance: Role of Subnational Institutions in Mediating Conflicts Over Land-Use Change in India |
| Summary | One of the key elements through which subnational units in India have asserted their autonomy is through land market liberalisation. Due to the displacement caused by land-use change, land-related conflicts have been a major problem in India. The thesis highlights two key imperatives of land markets and related institutional frameworks, namely, the jurisdictional (referring to the legal bases of land acquisitions, allocations, transfers, and conflict resolution) and the fiscal (the consolidation of economic benefits from land through investments and revenue generation). Fiscal realignments over the years have promoted subnational governments to use land value booms for local gains and use policy instruments to attract revenue through either foreign investments or land-leasing. Subnational governments have adopted different land liberalisation strategies based on their fiscal positions. The findings suggest that the strong presence of both avenues of land market liberalisation entails subnational units’ ability to retain competitiveness without initiating policies for aggressive land-grabbing and land-use change, which manifests itself in lower degree of land-related conflicts. The variation in conflicts unpacks the contradiction between two premises of subnational governments’ agenda – to promote local growth whilst meeting democratic demands for social protection. At the same time, the developments in land markets show that subnational units have largely not resolved these competing imperatives adequately. The presence of overlapping frameworks on land governance has meant that attempts at harmonisation have remained unsuccessful. Consequently, there has been inadequate institutionalisation of compensation and rehabilitation frameworks, and conflicts over land-use change have remained persistent. |
| Supervisor | Duman, Anil |
| Department | Political Science MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2018/priyadarshini_vidita.pdf |
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