In 2007, after working 20 years as a casual labourer, Ghaghru succeeded in getting possession of his inherited land, thanks to a high court decision in his favour.

Likewise, Kamlabai and Devrao Atram got to plough their 13 acres of land only two years ago. “I have taken two crops on my land,” says a proud Kamlabai.

Ambubai and Bhimu Madawi now have clear possession of 12 acres of their land, while five acres are still in the possession of non-tribals.

Jyuti tehsil is full of such stories. One of the most backward regions in the country, it has, for many years, witnessed large-scale grabbing of tribal lands by non-tribals. Land was grabbed through lease agreements, fake sale deeds, or simply by brute force.

The land-grabbers’ task was made easier because of the difficult hilly terrain -- most villages here are not easily accessed.

According to Paromita Goswami of Elgar, a PACS Programme-supported unorganised sector labour union working in the area, there are cases of land-grabbing in nearly all the 82 villages of this tehsil. In many villages the entire tribal population -- mostly Kolams and some Gonds -- has been forcibly evicted.

In the last five years, Elgar has taken up 501 cases of tribal land alienation. In 220 cases, involving a total of over 2,000 acres, clear possession has been restored by court decree; other cases are still pending.

Among the successful battles Elgar has fought are:

• Bhimabai Shidame of Yellapur village was beaten up badly in her own field, in 2004, and told never to return. When Elgar activists learnt of the case, they made her husband Rama the petitioner in a case they filed on the couple’s behalf. In 2006, the couple’s 7.5 acres of land was measured and assigned to them. They have since had one crop.
• Rukhmabai of Pallezari village was similarly beaten up and her six acres of land taken away. Elgar members filed an atrocities case, following which her land rights were restored by a court order.
• In the village of Ambezari, a group of powerful non-tribals who were going to lose their land in a road project connived with Public Works Department (PWD) contractors to have the road diverted. The latter constructed a 12-foot-wide road through Chandrakala Marape’s land without issuing her notice. Her standing crop and stocks of manure were destroyed. When this was brought to Elgar’s attention, a large number of villagers from Ambezari and nearby villages held a dawn-to-dusk dharna at the PWD office. Not only was all the land returned but compensation of Rs 67,000 was given to Chandrakala.

Elgar has a lawyer in Nagpur who handles all the cases. Activists from local communities, trained by Elgar, handle the documentation and provide other support.

However, the legal battle is only half the story. The bigger challenge, says Goswami, is getting and keeping possession of the land after ownership rights have been upheld by the courts. “Till just a few years ago, tribals -- even tribal women -- would get severely beaten up by non-tribal men if they dared to even approach their land.”

The non-tribals are politically well connected and, when Elgar first tried to organise the tribals in the area, they were dangerously aggressive.

“They would come in truck-loads and threaten us,” Goswami recalls. “Once when we were holding a meeting, they arrived in several trucks with activists belonging to a political party. They were carrying cans of kerosene and wanted to burn our car. The police had to throw a cordon (around us) and escort us out of the area.”

But Elgar activists continued to visit the area, and the harassed tribals braved dire threats to associate themselves with the union.

“We have got possession of our lands purely because we are organised,” says Lakshmibai Korwate. “We have only one weapon -- our organisation.”

In early 2007, Lakshmibai was attacked and injured whilst working in her fields. Still, her family refused to move out of the land. “Before tai (Goswami) came here we used to run away at the slightest threat. Now we hold on,” Lakshmibai says, holding out her injured ear for inspection.

Along with the Korwates, seven families whose lands have been recently restored have moved back to a hamlet that, at one time¸ used to have 50 habitations. There are several non-tribal hamlets close by, and if there is any violence the eight tribal families would be quite helpless.

Even as we talk to Lakshmibai, men, women and children, visibly of non-tribal stock and financially better off, start to gather around us. They stare at us menacingly.

“This is what they do every time they find out that someone from outside has come to visit us,” Lakshmibai explains.

“Now they are a lot less aggressive than they used to be,” adds Goswami, speaking softly in English. “But they still like to register their presence, which is a threat in itself.”

Just how bad the situation can get is borne out in Belgaon village, where the land rights of 32 tribal families have been restored. In 2006, people from a nearby non-tribal hamlet registered a police complaint that the residents had stolen and eaten an ox belonging to one of them.

“The police swooped down and ransacked houses in search of cooked ox meat,” says an elderly man in Belgaon. “They threw our utensils and belongings around, and abused us.”

Failing to find anything, the police then took 15 men to the police station and beat them up badly.

It was only after Elgar intervened and threatened to take action against the police that the harassment stopped.

“Earlier, we used to live in constant terror of the police and the non-tribals. Since that incident the police do not come here at all,” says Mutta Letu Madawi, a resident of the village.

“It is impossible to talk or negotiate with the non-tribals,” says local Elgar worker Devrao Madawi. “They pick fights, connive with the administration to manipulate records, and issue threats.”

Still, Elgar continues to fight determinedly to restore the tribals’ land rights. It has also lobbied with the administration, compelling it to implement welfare schemes for the benefit of tribals.

For the eight-family hamlet mentioned earlier, Elgar demanded and got farm implements -- carts, ploughs, seeders -- for the families. Supply of bullocks is in the pipeline and demands have been put forward for housing, electricity and drinking water.

In Belgaon, 32 houses have been constructed under the Indira Awas Yojana, with Elgar workers monitoring everything to ensure that the construction is of good quality.

Welfare work has also begun in Nandappa village, where land rights have been restored in as many as 42 cases.

Goswami estimates that the total value of welfare benefits secured by the organisation in Jyuti tehsil amounts to Rs 67-70 lakh. “What is more important is that the people are learning to develop a relationship with the administration, and demanding their rights,” she says. “That is what will help them survive in the long run.”

On our way back from Elgar’s PACS Programme project area, late at night, we see some dark figures standing along the road waving at the car. They are from another re-established hamlet of tribals with newly-restored land rights. We stop the car. “It is frightening tai, but we are staying on,” says one woman.

“Stay on with courage,” responds Goswami. “Stay on and you will win. Do not run.”