There has been a phenomenal increase in the number of landless people in Bangladesh over the last ten years. Reports suggests that approximately 60%-70% of the country’s population is either landless or holds less than 0.5 acres of land. Another interesting trend, one that has been scarcely noted, is the rise in the number of disputes over unregistered land and shared waters reported in Bangladesh. While the brewing disputes over land are presently only confined to certain pockets of Bangladesh, the absence of a successful strategy to address the issue, has the potential to lead to a larger social conflict. The growing importance and consequences of land rights, both in urban and rural areas, in Bangladesh therefore must be recognised if the country is to contain poverty, achieve economic progress and stability in the long-term. 

The size and number of land holdings define the social and economic progress of individual rural households in Bangladesh. Every year soil erosion and floods consume large tracts of fertile land in the rural areas of the country. Once the flood water recedes from land, it becomes difficult to establish ownership rights on land as the competition over scarce land is intense, fuelling disputes and even triggering violence in some parts. Often, high competition over land has led to land grabs, forcing the weaker and poorer sections of the population either to take up agricultural labour or migrate to urban areas. 

Despite substantial efforts undertaken by the government to reform land policies, Bangladesh’s inability to confront the challenge at its root could exacerbate the issues of land disputes in the long term. The redistribution of khas land under the land allocation program allots 99-year rights to plots between one and three acres to landless households at no cost depending on the quality of land. This program has benefitted only a small section of the beneficiaries. Of the 3.3 million acres of agricultural khas land, roughly 26% has been distributed; a large percentage of the land holdings have been distributed to local influential people. The encroachment of public land by influential people has made it difficult for the poor to gain ownership rights over land. In addition, the outcomes of other major land policy initiatives undertaken by the government such as imposition of land ceilings and measures to prevent conversion of agricultural land for non agricultural purposes have met with limited success.

Given the influx of population in urban areas, the social and economic disparity has been on the rise in urban centres. Apart from this, rural-urban migration has caused severe overcrowding, especially among poor and middle-class people, who often squat on public land or rent land in informal markets. Without access to land titles, these people live with the constant threat of eviction. Moreover, with rapid development of both the housing and industrial sectors, wetlands and water bodies are disappearing at a rapid pace in urban areas. Much of the land occupied by the poor has groundwater that is severely contaminated with heavy metals and solid wastes from industrial pollution; As a result, there have been severe outbursts of tuberculosis, especially among children living in slums. Given that the overall economic progress has not trickled down in urban areas, poor people are either forced to take up informal work or engage in petty crimes, increasing the rate of violence in urban areas.

For the moment, the immediate focus of the government should be not just on reforming the existing system of land policies but also ensure the effective implementation of those policies. More importantly, the process of land transactions and registration system should be streamlined, which in turn will benefit and provide land rights to the poor. In addition, the government should also consolidate data on a regular basis for various categories of land to optimize land use for various purposes. Moreover, the government should recognize and aid the work done by various non-governmental organizations in securing land rights for the peasants and indigenous people in the country. 

Realistically speaking, with frequent occurrences of natural disasters due to climate change, the government will find it harder to redistribute land and provide ownership rights to the thousands of displaced persons in the coming years. Moreover, this could stall any progress towards poverty alleviation in the country. Therefore, unless there are systematic steps taken to address the problem of land rights, Bangladesh will witness increasing unrest among the poor.

In the long term, it is important to note that the government will only stand to benefit by proper implementation of the land policies as it will negate any anti-government sentiments among the poor people. Such policy measures will not only minimize land grabbing but also check the impending land disputes stretching beyond control in the country.