Land and Asset Inequality Among Social Groups

Abstract

This article attempts to examine the changing distributional structure of land among various social groups at the micro-level and its implications on inequality among various social group households. Our research focusses on a case study—Gudivada village located in Nalgonda district in Telangana to understand the changes that have taken place in the landholding pattern and ensuing inequality among social groups in the studied time. The social groups have been categorised as Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and Other Castes (OCs), respectively. The study found that there is a prevalence of inequality in the distribution of land among social groups which later has decreased. The landholding patten in the village has changed from being dominated by OCs to now OBCs, increasing their landholding. However, no significant growth was seen in the area owned by SCs and STs over the same period. Similarly, the decomposition of asset inequality in the studied village revealed a clear distinction between within and between social groups, that is inequality based on the assets possession is higher of within social groups (assessing inequality among the population within a particular social groups such as SCs, STs, OBCs or OCs) compared to between social groups (assessing inequality among the population between social groups such as between SCs and STs or between OBCs and OCs and so on).