What is Preventing Women from Inheriting Land? A Study of the Implementation of the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act 2005 in Three States in India

The Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act 2005, an inheritance law that covers 83.6% of the population of India, corrected some of fundamental inequalities in the law bringing the women in equal status to men in the right to inherit land. However, eight years after its enactment, the ground reality is that women still do not inherit land on an equal basis with men. This empirical study conducted in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh assesses the barriers preventing full implementation of the Act, capturing social practices and barriers, as well as identifies lacunae in the formal system that prevents the Act’s implementation. While there is variation across the states, it cannot be said that the scenario is acceptable in any of the three. The study calls for key interventions in terms of review of the Revenue Codes, training of implementing staff and dedicated state oversight to ensure full implementation.