Common Property Resource Management: A Community Based Action by Haldikudi Village Committee

This paper documents the success of common property management. It defines common properties as "resources, which are available to the whole community or village to which no individual has exclusive ownership or property rights." The paper argues that the ownership of the common property should be handed over to a people's institution that has social acceptance and legal recognition. To demonstrate this point, it cites the success story of the Haldikudi Village Committee in Orissa, India, assisted in common property management by the Gramin Vikas Trust (GVT). The Committee's activities were:

• Turning 30 acres of barren land, which had not been utilized for years, into a cashew plantation. GVT provided 3000 cashew seedlings, training and exposure visits;
• Producing the Asoka-228 paddy seed variety in common land with GVT;
• Cultivating groundnut in 5 acres and potatoes in 6 acres of common land;
• Cultivating mushrooms, honey bees and poultry;
• Cleaning and renovating a huge, muddy pond and started a pisci-culture unit;
• Planting eucalyptus trees in the degrading forest of the village.

The paper concludes by listing the reasons for the success of the village committee activities:

• Participation of all stakeholders;
• Consent of the villagers for income-generating activities and management of common resources;
• Capacity building and training by GVT.