Control over land and natural resources has recently become a subject of debate in India. There are numerous cases in different states which indicate that village common land are a prime target of land takeovers and are justified in the name of economic growth, urbanization and industrialization. States like Punjab are no exception to this syndrome and one witnesses drastic but silent transformation taking place in the rural areas of the region. Shamlat or the common lands, once an integral feature of almost every village is shrinking due to multiple reasons, prime being encroachment and illegal sale and in this, the villages near large cities are the worst hit. Such transformations have also affected the economically and socially vulnerable communities particularly Dalits and women. However, in the last few years,small and medium farmers and conspicuously women are in the forefront of agrarian struggle trying to reclaim the lost commons- the reserved Shamlat land on which they have rightful share legally. They have now started collective farming to withstand onslaughts of economic distress and address issues of livelihood. Based on insights from select villages in Sangrur district, the paper tries to understand the implications of declining common land on women from marginal communities and reflect on the dynamics of this ongoing land struggle . In doing so, it engages with issues of rights, equity justice, gender and caste associated with ‘common land in the region
