Land Management System among the Scheduled Caste Lois Villages in Manipur: A study of Kwatha Village, Chandel District.

Land is one of the most important natural resources for living beings. It has been providing tangible and intangible benefits for human beings since time immemorial. Land management is the process of managing land for a variety of purposes such as organic, agriculture, reforestation, eco forest projects, development, etc. It is controlled either by the State or non-state institutions. In Manipur, the larger areas of land, particularly forests, are controlled by the traditional institutions. The areas where this system is in vogue are all the hills districts of Chandel, Churachandpur, Senapati, Tamenglong and Ukhrul. Land management is also practised among all the foothills people of the eight Scheduled Caste (SC) Lois villages. The seven SC Lois villages are located in the foothills of Manipur excluding Kwatha hills villages. The paper studies the functioning of Phamdou with special reference to community forest management.