India, Uttarkhand: Government fails to implement Supreme Court Order to restore land to 154 Dalit families.

In the state of Uttarkhand (previously Uttaranchal), India, the state government is acquiring more and more agricultural land for industrial purposes. This has made it difficult for evicted Dalits in the village of Ambedkar Nagar, district of Kashipur in Uttarkhand, to repossess their land. After 14 years of struggle, 154 Dalit families remain separated from their rightful land, despite a ruling in 1996 by India’s Supreme Court stating that they are the rightful owners of the land. In 2005 the government of Uttarkhand finally expropriated the grabbed land from the landlord, with intentions to regulate the area for industry. This is in stark contrast to Supreme Court ruling and a violation of the right to food of the evicted land owners.