Women's property rights are legally protected, including equal inheritance for daughters through the Hindu Succession Act, 2005. However, patriarchal norms, low legal awareness, procedural complexities, and family pressure hinder effective implementation. A multi-pronged approach of legal harmonization, administrative reform, and social campaigns is needed to bridge this gap.
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Picture Courtesy: THE HINDU
The Supreme Court judgment in Ram Charan vs Sukhram upheld tribal women's equal inheritance Property rights, overturning customary exclusions.
Property rights refer to legal entitlements allowing individuals to own, use, manage, transfer, or dispose of tangible (e.g., land, buildings) and intangible (e.g., intellectual property) assets.
Economic Independence: Property ownership provides financial stability, access to credit, and income generation, reducing dependence on male relatives.
Social Bargaining Power: It enhances women's decision-making in households, combats domestic violence, and improves health/education outcomes for families.
Political and Legal Leverage: Empowers participation in governance (e.g., gram sabhas) and protects against exploitation, boosting overall gender equality and dignity.
Long-Term Impact: For tribal women, it counters marginalization, boosts agricultural productivity (where women contribute more), and breaks poverty cycles.
Constitutional Provisions
Article 14: Guarantees equality before the law, prohibiting gender-based discrimination in property rights.
Article 15: Prohibits discrimination on grounds of sex, promoting affirmative action for women.
Article 21: Protects right to life and dignity, interpreted to include economic rights against arbitrary customs.
Article 39(a): Directs the state to ensure equal livelihood opportunities for men and women.
Legal Provisions
Hindu Succession Act (HSA) 2005: Grants daughters equal coparcenary rights but excludes tribals under Section 2(2), leaving them under customary laws.
Forest Rights Act (FRA) 2006: Recognizes joint titles for spouses in forest lands, aiding tribal women.
Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act: Promotes gender-inclusive land recognition.
Judicial Interventions
Madhu Kishwar vs State of Bihar (1996): Upheld customary laws but highlighted gender parity needs.
Prabha Minz vs Martha Ekka (2022): Jharkhand HC affirmed Oraon women's inheritance rights absent proven exclusionary customs.
Kamala Neti vs Special Land Acquisition Officer (2022): SC advanced gender parity in tribal property.
Ram Charan vs Sukhram (2025): SC ruled excluding tribal women from inheritance violates equality; granted equal shares to Gond women heirs.
Only 13% of women (15 – 49 years) in India owns a house alone, while another 29.2% owns it jointly. Only 8.3% of women own land alone, while another 23.4% own land jointly with someone else. (Source: UN Population Fund)
According to National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5), 42.3% of women and 62.5% of men own a house, whereas 31.7% of women and 43.9% of men own land either alone or jointly with someone else.
Higher proportion of women living in rural areas own a house either alone or jointly with someone else (45%) as compared to 37% of their urban counterparts. (Source: UN Population Fund)
In 5 states more than 60% of women own a house either alone or jointly – Karnataka, Punjab, Telangana, Meghalaya, and Jharkhand (Source: UN Population Fund)
Government Policies and Initiatives for Women Property Ownership
Forest Rights Act (FRA) 2006: Grants joint forest land titles; over 2.4 million titles issued by 2025, benefiting women.
Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan (PM-JANMAN) 2025: Develops 63,000 tribal villages, including land literacy for women.
Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme (DILRMP): Digitizes records, aiding women's claims; integrated with FRA.
Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY): Requires female co-ownership for subsidized housing, and prioritizes allotments for women.
Mahila Samridhi Yojana (MSY): Provides microfinance loans at low interest to help women entrepreneurs from underprivileged backgrounds acquire property or start businesses.
Social and cultural barriers
Patriarchal norms: Family and societal pressure compels women to forgo their property claims in favor of male relatives.
Fear of conflict: Many women avoid asserting their claims to prevent family disputes or social isolation.
Misconceptions about dowry: Practice of dowry is seen as a substitute for a daughter's inheritance, legitimizing inequality.
Administrative and legal hurdles
Lengthy legal processes: Time and cost involved in legal proceedings discourage many women from pursuing property claims.
Poor record-keeping: Outdated/Unclear land records complicate women's efforts to prove ownership.
Data gaps: Lack of reliable, gender-disaggregated data on property ownership hinders the government's ability to design effective, targeted policies.
Economic and institutional limitations
Economic dependence: Financial dependency on male family members restricts women's ability to pursue expensive, prolonged legal battles.
Documentation barriers: For government housing schemes like PMAY, women may lack the required documents, such as income proof, to complete the application process.
Legal and policy reforms
Implement a Uniform Civil Code (UCC): A UCC would standardize personal laws across all religions, eliminate discriminatory inheritance practices and ensure equal rights for women in marriage, divorce, and succession.
Strengthen joint ownership mandates: Strictly enforce mandatory joint registration of all land and housing titles, especially for married couples.
Empower legal protections: Reinforce protections against forced property transfers and strengthen anti-Benami laws to prevent property being registered in a woman's name while control is denied.
Administrative and institutional improvements
Digitize and integrate land records: Accelerate the Digital India Land Records Modernization Programme (DILRMP) to ensure accurate, tamper-proof, and transparent land records.
Offer accessible legal aid: Expand and promote government-funded legal aid and support services, with a specific focus on assisting women from disadvantaged backgrounds with property disputes.
Establish dedicated property desks for women: Create specialized help desks in land and revenue offices to assist women with registration, documentation, and grievance redressal.
Social and economic interventions
Mobilize women's collectives: Support and strengthen women's self-help groups (SHGs) to act as a collective force for supporting women in claiming their property rights and to access financial services.
Provide financial incentives: Expand incentives like reduced stamp duty, lower interest rates on home loans, and tax benefits to make property ownership more affordable and appealing for women.
Support single women: Create targeted schemes and legal support mechanisms to protect the land rights of single women, including widows and deserted women.
Bridging the gender gap in property rights is crucial for ensuring equality, empowerment, and social justice in India.
Source: THE HINDU
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PRACTICE QUESTION Q. How does the gender gap in land ownership affect women’s empowerment in India? 150 words |
Amendments to the Hindu Succession Act in 2005 granted daughters equal coparcenary rights to ancestral property as sons, which the Supreme Court affirmed in 2020 apply by birth.
Yes, a woman's marital status does not affect her inheritance rights to her parents' property.
Despite legal protections, the biggest challenges are patriarchal social norms leading to low awareness of rights, family pressure, and difficulties in navigating legal procedures.
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