Landholdings among Tribal Rural Households of Meghalaya and Its Impact on Credit Markets

Abstract

This study examines the unique landholding arrangements among the indigenous tribal in rural Meghalaya, and its implication on borrowing behaviour of the households. Three arrangements of landholding are prevalent among the rural households of the state consisting of privately owned land, community-owned land and rented land with more than two-thirds of households having land that is privately owned. However, the majority of these households are in possession of customary land possession titles issued by traditional institutions which has limited applicability as collateral while borrowing from banks. Credit participation rate is found to be significantly associated with land ownership status and possession of ownership title on privately owned land. While banks are the main suppliers of credit due to the absence of money lenders in the study area, households have preferred to use other collateral instead of land while borrowing from banks because of the complexity of ownership rights and titling in tribal-dominated areas of Meghalaya.