28, May 2026

Denied by Custom, Promised by Constitution: The Struggle for Land Rights of Tribal Women in India

VOLUME-12; ISSUE-5; MAY-2026

Author(s): Dr Ravindra Kumari, Pradeep Kumar

Authors Affiliations:

  1. Research Assistant, Indian Institute of Technology,

Department of Civil Engineering, Ropar, Punjab

2. Human Resource Management & Finance

Uttarakhand Technical University, Dehradun

 

 

DOIs:10.2015/IJIRMF/202605030     |     Paper ID: IJIRMF202605030


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Contrary to that, in the tribal areas there are some customary practices that are in conflict with the Indian Constitution's guarantee of impartiality and of women's rights as outlined in Articles 14, 15 and 21 on gender justice or dignity, yet are included in the Fifth and Sixth Schedules which limit women's access to land and land ownership and land rights and land inheritance. The Hindu Succession Act does not apply to members of the Scheduled Tribes, thus exacerbating this institutional imbalance, and enabling discrimination to be continued within the framework of the universal inheritance reforms. The gap was highlighted by empirical studies while NFHS-5 data showed that while approximately 39% of tribal women can be seen on joint land titles, they do not have effective control over land and only about 17% of women in the central belt territories have autonomy over land decisions. Joint titling thus conceals unequal power relations if not coupled with legal, administrative, and social steps which ensure women's actual control. In order to balance the autonomy of tribes with the meaning of the constitution, the reforms needed to emphasize the codification of customary laws, participatory processes that include gender safeguards and gender sensitive titling procedures that establish individual rights and prevent dispossession. There are complementary measures that can be taken, such as legal awareness raising, reducing the time required to register land and enforcing the anti-discrimination norms, which can reinforce women's land security without compromising legitimate community governance. These measures, if implemented, would promote tribal autonomy and the spirit of substantive gender equality in the constitution.

Women of the tribes, land rights, constitutional equality, customary law, gender justice, inheritance, Scheduled Tribes.

Dr Ravindra Kumari, Pradeep Kumar (2026); Denied by Custom, Promised by Constitution: The Struggle for Land Rights of Tribal Women in India, International Journal for Innovative Research in Multidisciplinary Field, ISSN(O): 2455-0620, Vol-12, Issue-5, Available on –   https://www.ijirmf.com/

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