Transcript ISSUES IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT DISPLACEMENT …

Issues in
Sustainable Development
DISPLACEMENT
AND
RESETTLEMENT
IN INDIA
Hari Mohan Mathur
Agenda
 About
the Council for Social Development
 Critical
Issues in Displacement and
Resettlement
 Addressing
the Issues
Council
for
Social
Development
(CSD)
 CSD,
New Delhi, is an independent
research organization
 Established in 1970 by a group of scholars
and policy makers in social development
led by Durgabai Deshmukh and C.D.
Deshmukh
 CSD, through its research and advocacy
seeks to secure a just and equitable
development
 For more information, log on to:
www.csdindia.org
Critical Issues
in
Displacement and Resettlement
Background
One of the most contentious issues in
development today is the resettlement of people
displaced from their lands and livelihoods
 Displacement is neither new nor uncommon in
development projects.
 But in recent years, the scale of displacement has
assumed serious proportions due to massive and
indiscriminate acquisition of land
 The lack adequate resettlement of those
displaced, leading to their impoverishment, is
now fuelling resentment, which has never been
as vehement as it is now.

The Impact of Displacement
 Large
projects have disgorged hundreds and
thousands of people from their homes, lands,
livelihoods and communities
 Some displaced even more than once
 But no official count kept of the exact number
displaced
 According to one estimate 60 million people
have been displaced since Independence, and
mostly reduced to a state of permanent
poverty
 It is no development if it leaves millions
impoverished
Displacement is an inherently disruptive and
impoverishing process
 It gives rise to severe social, economic and
environmental problems
 Impoverishment is the most visible impact on the
lives of those forcibly displaced
 Those forcibly displaced confront the risks of
impoverishment, and end up worse off than
before
 Those worst affected happen to be mostly poor
(from tribal, rural areas but now also from urban
areas)

The problem of displacement/resettlement is not
going to fade away or even slow down in the
foreseeable future
 Henceforth mining, industry, energy,
infrastructure projects are will trigger
displacement on a massive scale, not seen before
even during the big dam era.
 Globalization, liberalization and privatization
processes have opened the doors wide open for
private sector projects to invest in development
projects
 The demand for land for private industry, MNCs
in particular, and now SEZs is rising and seems
insatiable

No Equitable Sharing of
Development Gains and Pains
Displacement hurts all project area people, but
the poor bear the brunt most (lose land, remain
inadequately compensated, get forcibly moved to
unfamiliar places)
 Mostly it is better off groups (including investor,
city dwellers) that tend to benefit
 The poor displaced then get the feeling of being
abandoned, of being sacrificed to the march of
progress
 Much opposition to project arises because of this
sense of injustice, for the sacrifices they make the
displaced do not see benefits enough coming their
way

The Land Acquisition Conundrum
Land acquisition never been a hassle-free
process, but the current surge in protests in
unprecedented
 There is no project that is not in trouble over the
land issue (The Noida Expressway is the latest in
the growing list of projects in trouble)
 It is becoming impossible to acquire land for new
projects,
 FDI is shrinking, jeopardizing the growth story


The issue needs to be addressed upfront
Farmers have enjoyed through generations a
kind of security that only land can provide, and
they are unwilling to lose it (especially tribal
people)
 The fact is that under the present flawed laws
and policies the compensation that they get does
not reflect the true value of their land
 Their fear is that they will not get compensation
enough to buy land again and will lose completely
once their lands are gone
 While the land value keeps going up and will go
up further due to developments in the
surrounding areas they get only the present
value of land

Addressing the Issues
1
Government Response
In the past, there has been a largely residual
approach to dealing with project-affected people
 The focus of projects was on evicting, not on
resettling, the affected people
 Resettlement was taken as done once
compensation was paid for lands acquired
 Even now it remains a neglected issue in
Government
 It pops up as an urgent problem only when a
crisis situation erupts, threatening to spin out of
control
 Ad hoc steps then hurriedly taken in a knee-jerk
reaction fail to address the real concern of the
displaced people – the assurance of a sustainable
livelihood

From all accounts, the government track record
in rebuilding the lives of people affected by
projects has been pathetic
 It has not even kept the count of how many
people the projects have displaced
 Displacement on a massive scale has gone on for
decades
 But until recently India did not even have a
national policy
 The interest in displacement/resettlement issues
that government has shown in recent years is
widely seen as a move to neutralize hostility of
protestors

However, current efforts to improve legal and
policy framework that the government has taken
are a step in the right direction
 The government has recently introduced in
Parliament a Land Acquisition and Resettlement
and Rehabilitation Bill 2011 (LARR Bill 2011)
 This will convert Resettlement Policy into a Law,
making it enforceable
 But the issue of balancing the concerns of farmers
with the need for industrial development remains
inadequately addressed

Government needs to do more to ensure that as a
result of development the displaced people also
improve their level of living and not get poorer
than before
 For resettlement to succeed, a strong government
commitment is essential
 And not just laws, policies, not even large funds
Important though they are)
 There should be a properly equipped agency in a
project exclusively to manage resettlement and
rehabilitation issues.
 Affected persons should be adequately
represented in all stages of planning,
implementation and monitoring.
 The agency responsible for implementation must
set up an easily accessible Grievance Redress
cell, and ensure that the grievances are redressed
promptly.

2
The Role of NGOs
The role of NGOs must be applauded for bringing
displacement/resettlement issues on the
development agenda
 Since the effects of projects often prove disastrous
for the poorer groups, some activists want that no
land should be acquired for new projects even if
that means halting the development process
altogether.
 While projects can be designed to bring down the
number of people requiring resettlement, the
demand for stopping all development is clearly
unrealistic
 The fact is that projects involve displacement are

The relationship between
governments/corporations and NGOs need not be
entirely adversarial.
 The interests of both converge in that everybody
now wants a fair deal for those whom
development projects tend to displace and
impoverish
 Resettlement will lead to much happier results
for the affected people when collaboration
replaces the confrontational stance of some NGOs
 NGOs can contribute significantly to
resettlement effort.
 After all, NGOs do have strengths that can
complement those of the government

3 The Overall Watchdog Function
of the C&AG
Under the Constitution of India, the C&AG is
uniquely positioned to play a vital role in seeing
that development in all sectors proceeds in
conformity with the policies, laws, procedures
 The role is not limited to checking the accounts to
ensure that that wasteful expenditure is avoided
 Displacement/resettlement issues that are
currently so prominent not only on development
agenda, but public debate, do deserve to receive
as close a scrutiny as other issues have received
so far

The goal of resettlement policies is that the income
levels of affected people as a result of development
must go up, but in no case must there be any
slippage.
 It is necessary to ensure that funds required for
meeting this basic resettlement are not only
provided adequately, but also utilized in the
manner intended
 C&AG should ensure that resettlement
programmes are regularly monitored and the
reports of such monitoring are publicly accessible
 The government should produce a document
providing the experience of
displacement/resettlement over the past 60 years or
so, with details of number of people displaced, and
those not displaced with reasons for resettlement
failure

Concluding Comments
Displacement and resettlement are issues that
India has to live with
 Development projects are needed to remove
poverty, create jobs and improves lives for all
 It is however important that those who make
sacrifices for development also benefit from the
process
 Otherwise, the policy and practice of development
would remain unjust, a source of social unrest

Thanks