源自恒星英语网，翻译详见原网https://m.hxen.com/englishlistening/rumen/huanqiu/2020-02-14/531562.html
Women and Land Reforms
女性和土地改革
Hello. I'm ElizabethLickiss.
And I'm Marina Santee.Welcome to Spotlight. This programme uses a special English method ofbroadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in theworld they live.
It is early in the morning.A group of women gather together. They gather in the Indian village ofNarsenhalli, near Bangalore. They sit outside the brightly coloured villageschool. This is their meeting point. A few men sit on the fence outside theschool. They want to know what the women are going to discuss. There are a lotof women — around thirty. The youngest woman is about twenty-five. And the oldest iseighty! But they are united in their purpose. They are here to talk about land.
The women have been workingon the same land for the last thirty years. They grow dryland crops such asgroundnut, red gram and a local cereal — ragi. They use most of the crops in theirhomes. But they do sell some goods on the local market.
The women farm the land. Andthe men travel to look for work. This happens in many villages in India today.It is different from how things used to be. The women farm the land. But theystill do not own it. Men still have more rights than women. But the women inNarsenhalli are hoping to change this!
The women want to own thelegal papers for the land. They call the papers "pattas". The ownerof the pattas is the owner of the land. One of the women from the group said,
"We want our pattas. Itis our right."
The women are part of alarger group — "The Karnataka People's Forum for Land Rights" or KPFLR.Karnataka was one of the first Indian states to begin land reform. The groupworks to give ownership rights to the workers of the land. They hope to speedup this whole process of land reform in this way — forboth men and women.
In the past, the mostimportant thing was to provide land for the workers. This was more importantthan land rights for women. However, the majority of KPFLR‘s members are women.So women‘s rights have become more important.
Thangamma is the oldestmember of the women's group in Narsenhalli. Her back is bent forwards to theground. She has worked on the same land for over fifty years. She wants the"pattas", legal papers, for the land. Much of the land is the name ofher dead father-in-law. She says,
"I want joint ownershipof these lands now. My son may sell the land. I want security."
Thangamaa worries that herson will use the land as security to borrow money. She knows that the familywould not be able to pay back any debt. They would lose the land. Thangamaa'sfears are common. Almost all the women want pattas for security.
Kadramma is another of thewomen in the group. She is forty. Her house is close to the school. Outside aretwo cows and a goat. Inside it is cool and dark. Kadramma's husband, Munniyappa,built the house. He used money from the government and family savings. Theyhave four children. The oldest two did not finish school. Instead, they helpsupport the family. The daughter helps in the home. The son works in a hotel inBangalore. The family's earnings pay for the younger children's education.
Kadramma and Munniyappa keephalf of their crops. And they sell the other half. But they struggle in theyears without rain. The harvest produces only half the amount of crops. SoMunniyappa goes to the village money lender. Here he can get a loan. But hemust pay it back — with an interest rate of sixty percent!
In 1991, Munniyappa askedfor the rights to the land they farm. He asked for the pattas. He waited forover ten years. And he did not receive anything. But today, he and Kadramma arehopeful.
They have the support ofKPFLR. And they hope that this will change things. They will get the papersthey deserve. So, whose name will be on the papers? Munniyappa and his wife donot look very happy with this question! Munniyappa answers quickly.
"It does not matter whoowns the land. It is not a big issue."
His wife adds,
"We all work veryhard."
Land reform raises difficultpolitical and social issues. It is a problem in many countries, not just India.
Giving land rights to womenalso raises issues of equality. Traditional thinking is still deep set in manyareas. So it is not simply a matter of changing policies or laws. For example,policy has changed in Karnataka. But people are slow to act on the changes. Itgoes against years of traditional thinking. This "thinking" says thatwomen do not own anything — including land.
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedhkar isan expert in this area. He said,
"Oppressed people shouldbe able to become owners of land. Then they can boldly live — in freedom. They canlive without fearing anyone. For an individual to own land in India is notsimply a sign of economic development. But it is also a sign of a higherstatus, position, in the Indian Social Structure."
So, giving women rights, isalso giving them a higher position. And maybe this is why reform has been slow.But for many women farmers, it is not about position or status. They simplywant the security of owning the land they farm. They want to be able to providefor their children and their future. Land reform will enable them to do this.Security and hope are things that all people should have. The women ofNarsenhalli believe they are worth fighting for.
用户评论