PM Modi has distributed land title deeds to Banjaras

Subject : Governance

Concept :

Prime Minister Narendra Modi symbolically distributed Hakku Patra (land title deeds) to five families of the Banjara (Lambani) community, a nomadic Scheduled Caste group, at an event organised by the state Revenue Department at Malkhed, in the Kalaburagi district of Karnataka.

Hakku Patra

The word ‘Hakku’ means “the right”, and ‘Patra’ means a “paper” or “document”.
It is a legal document that states an individual’s rightful inheritance of a property.
It is issued to the nation’s underprivileged section, including scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, urban slum dwellers, handicapped, and other disadvantaged populations.
In most cases, the land on which the Hakku Patra is issued is government-owned with a specific set of conditions attached.

Hakku Patra distribution drive:

It is a part of the Ambedkar Rural Housing Scheme of Karnataka.
Under this, the government offers free registration of Hakku Patra land in the beneficiary’s name.
Any house built on the Hakku Patra land should be used as the beneficiary’s house and not for rental purposes.

Benefits of Hakku Patra:

It makes you the legitimate owner of your land or property by giving an up-to-date and official record of who owns the land.
It is a state-guaranteed document.
The title deeds enable owners to avail of bank loans with the said document.
Hakku Patra registration resolves all types of disputes regarding the ownership or rights over the land.
The document helps in preventing any encroachment via trespassing on the boundaries.

Banjara/Lambani Community

The Banjaras are a nomadic caste noted for their role as supply chains in earlier times. They traded in salt, bullocks and other essential items to various villages. The term ‘Banjara’ is from the words ‘vanaj’, meaning to trade and ‘jara’ meaning to travel.
They are settled mainly in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. It is reported that the tribe originated in Marwar region of Rajasthan.

Sandur Lambani Embroidery

The Sandur Lambani Embroidery technique of the Banjara people is a GI tagged art form.
This style of textile embroidery is tagged to Sanduru in Bellary of Karnataka. Red and blue are the most common colors used in the embroidery.
It has about 30 different stitches and 10 motif design types. It includes decoration with shells, beads, mirrors, coins, etc.