Land reform in India has been seen as a state’s historic and direct action for eradication of poverty, reduction in unemployment and inequality in the society. One of the underlying principles of land reform was to identify large landholding and distribute surplus topoor, landless and families that belong to marginalized sections of the society like dalits, adivasis and other backward classes (OBC). This study (2006) explores how much lands have been actually transferred to the dalit communities in Banaskantha district through land reforms in Gujarat; extent of land holding / possession over allotted land under LCA; and to plan advocacy measures for effective implementation of LCA that leads to greater and effective land holding. Of total 797 persons have been allotted land in Banaskantha district during the year 1981 and 2005 and of them primary data collected from 186 respondents.

The study revealed small land holding, about 96 per cent rain fed, about 40 per cent possess land and cultivate and the rest are deprived of land allotted due to various bureaucratic reasons andsocial dynamics in an unequal society.The study concludes that mere official formalities cannot make land reform meaningful and successful; needs a commitment and rigorous follow up actions to fight the vested interests.

About 8 million labourers are engaged in Construction work throughout India, of which about 1 lakh labourers are estimated, working in Ahmedabad city in Gujarat state. These workers are considered to be one of the most vulnerable segments of the unorganized labour in India. Their work is of temporary nature, the relationship between employer and the employee is temporary, working hours are uncertain, and access to basic amenities and welfare facilities provided to these workers are inadequate. Risk to life and limb is also inherent.

The study (2009) documents status of living and working conditions of ‘building workers’ working in Ahmedabad city to identify areas of advocacy for effective implementation of concerned laws and to articulate needs and concerns of ‘building workers’. Total 970 “building workers” - plastering, RCC related, masonry, flooring, decorating walls, electric, plumbing and carpentry from Ahmedabad city have been covered under the study.

Human rights (HR) are rights inherent to all human beings, whatever our nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or any other status.The concept of HR is not universal; it covers a wide spectrum and it is not possible to touch upon the whole content in its entity. Hardly any day passes when we do not witness one or other types of human rights violations (HRV) of women and children, of lower castes and otherwise disadvantaged communities, of religious and ethnic minorities, and of workers. These violation ranges over whole conspectus of HR, civil and political rights as well as social and economic. There are mass killings and widespread disappearances, torture, wide displacement of communities and traditional abode; arbitrary detentions and extensive censorship of thought and expression.

The study (2009-10) aimed at documenting the status of human rights and human rights violation in Gujarat; articulating human right violation and sharing need for developing strategies to address human right violation in India and studying human right violation and getting justice through legal action in Gujarat. It elaborates conceptual framework of HR and HRV to asses the status of Human rights in India, specifically in Gujarat; quantitative and qualitative analysis of secondary data to depict macro and micro scenario for HRV, legal action, legal processes & procedures and HRV perspective employed by police, judiciary, etc to identify gaps for dealing with HRV. As part of this, five HRV cases as samples would also be analyzed with the help of in-depth interviews of the victims.

This report (2005) is originally in Gujarati and a summary in English is presented here. As the earlier studies have observed that the influence of community characteristics is more pronounced on the educational processes than availability of the educational facilities across different sections of the society and therefore accessibility is also an important concern in reproduction of the dominant ideology and reinforcing social structure. The study presents its findings with governance related aspects, such as, (i) literacy level in past and present – regional discrepancy, differences among various communities and religions; (ii) lack of infrastructure & educational facilities at primary schools in rural Gujarat; (iii) whether dominant ideology is reinforced in form of discrimination with marginalized communities at primary schools and if so, nature, form of and its extent; and (iv) perception of parents, especially marginalized communities about role of governance in imparting primary education.