Less than one year after launching a partnership with Landesa, the state of Uttar Pradesh was able to award its first batch of land titles to formerly landless families. Last month, a group of 33 landless families received secure rights to a life-changing resource — their own land. The titles, or patta, were distributed on Feb. 20 as the result of a partnership between Landesa and the state government of Uttar Pradesh. The recipients live in one of the poorest districts in Uttar Pradesh, where many work as laborers or beg for money to survive. Secure land rights give these poor women and men a foundation on which to grow their futures. Said one recipient, a single woman named Jadawati, “This patta is going to give me and my family a better status in the society, and raise our economic status.”
Through strategic advocacy and a sustained partnership with state and local agencies, we hope to secure land titles for many more.