Our fight is totally different from landlord farmers. 92% of Scheduled Caste holding is marginal (0-2 hectares) of the 86.21% overall. The Agricultural Census of 2015-16 reported that Dalits operate only about 9% of the total area which is an average land holding of 0.78 hectares
71% Dalits are landless labourers who work on a land they do not own. In the rural areas 58.4% Dalit households do not own land at all. As we look at Dalit dominated states viz. Haryana, Punjab and Bihar where 85% Dalits in these states are living at the mercy of their landlords.
More than 60% of landless Dalits in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, WB, and Odisha yearn for a good future. And in most number of districts in Bihar, Haryana, Punjab, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, TN, & Kerala, 90% of Dalit farmers are agricultural labourers.
Therefore, the issues raised by director Pa Ranjith about landlessness is a question that every Dalit and non-Dalit student, professional, organizer, artist, scholar, businessperson, and politician should raise. It should be on the tongue and mind of every conscious citizen.
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