Land granted, land held: the Tamil Nadu Government has given the Assembly two totals for Panchami land, 112,598.52 acres in 2015 and about 147,296 in 2021

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What this shows

The Tamil Nadu Government’s own figures for Panchami land, as two Ministers gave them to the Assembly in 2015 and 2021.

What it does not show: Where the land is, who holds it now, or any figure after 2021: no register is published, and the reports asked of the District Collectors in 2021 have not been made public.

Sources

Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly; answer by Thiru (the Tamil form of Mr) N. Subramanian, Minister for Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare, Demands for Grants 2015-2016: Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare, Assembly debates of 16 September 2015 (in Tamil), dated 16 Sept 2015. Primary source.
Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly; answer by Thiru (the Tamil form of Mr) K.K.S.S.R. Ramachandran, Minister for Revenue and Disaster Management, Demands for Grants 2021-2022: Revenue and Disaster Management, Assembly debates of 31 August 2021 (in Tamil), dated 31 Aug 2021. Primary source.

Analysis by The Dalit Project, as on 10 Oct 2026.

Read these with the numbers

The two totals come from different Ministers and departments (Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare in 2015, Revenue in 2021), and neither says how the land was counted or as on what date. The 2021 figure is given as approximate. They may not count the same thing.
In 2015 the Minister described the rule on this land: “Land set aside for the Scheduled Castes may not be sold within 10 years, and if sold after 10 years may not be sold to anyone who is not of the Scheduled Castes.” (our translation, page 124).
In 2021 the Minister said the Government had asked the District Collectors for reports on whether the land is still held by those it was given to (page 135). We found no report or later figure in the Assembly or in the policy notes.
No figure by district is given in either answer. The debates carry figures for single villages and much larger totals, but these are members’ statements, not the Government’s, and are not shown.
Our translation from Tamil; the Tamil text as printed is kept with the readings.

Key terms

Panchami land: Land the Government gave “for Panchamars and the Scheduled Castes”, as the Minister for Revenue put it in 2021. The Minister for Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare said in 2015 that it may not be sold within 10 years, nor after that to anyone outside the Scheduled Castes.
Encroached: Held or occupied by people the land was not assigned to.
Retrieved: Taken back from those holding it and given to eligible people.
Scheduled Castes: The official list of Dalit communities under India’s Constitution.

Changelog and corrections

Version 1: First version: the Government’s Panchami land figures from two Assembly answers, 16 September 2015 and 31 August 2021.

How corrections work. Every change is listed here.

Cite this

The Dalit Project, “Land granted, land held: the Tamil Nadu Government has given the Assembly two totals for Panchami land, 112,598.52 acres in 2015 and about 147,296 in 2021”, version 1, data.dalitproject.org/panchami/, as on 10 Oct 2026.