Chapter- 2 SITUATION OF DISPLACEMENT AND REHABILITATION IN INDIA: A REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Transcription

1 Chapter- 2 SITUATION OF DISPLACEMENT AND REHABILITATION IN INDIA: A REVIEW OF LITERATURE

2 This chapter deals with the situation of displacement and rehabilitation in India. It focuses on various issues of displacement and rehabilitation of the oustees, displaced by various developmental projects. It also reviews various existing literature on the problem., J After independence, when India launched the task of nation building, it chose the path of planned development, which was flagged off with the launching of the five-year plans. Since economic development was conspicuously low, the planner focused more on economic development and development defined mainly as growth of GNP, which was symbolised by the new factories, dams, mega projects, mining etc (Kaviraj: 1996, 116). They were even referred as the "temples of modem India" and symbol of progress and prosperity. Though these mega,j projects have provided power to growing industries, irrigation to thirsty lands and, above all, have brought economic prosperity to the nation, nevertheless, these mega development projects have led to forced displacement of thousands of people from their ancestral lands. The "temples of modem India" have become "temples of doom" for the uprooted people. Such projects have changed the patterns of use of land, water and other natural resources that previously prevailed in the areas (Goyal: 1996). People dependent upon the land, forest and other natural resources for their livelihood have been dispossessed of their subsistence through land acquisition and displacement Estimating the Scale of Displacement Though millions of people have been displaced by vanous planned development schemes since independence, no reliable data exist on the extent of 30

3 displacement and rehabilitation. Only a few official statistics are available. Some case studies that are available indicate that official sources by and large tend to underestimate the number of persons displaced by development projects. In the absence of firm project wise data, the estimate of total number of people displaced by planned development intervention from ranges from 110 lakhs to an over all figure of 185 lakhs (Femades and Thu~al: 1989: 4): However, according to another estimation, a total 213 lakh people have been displaced by various developmental projects (Femades and Paranjepe: 1997: 15). These figures do not include the sizeable number of people who are not acknowledged as being 'project affected' (i.e. by loss of livelihood caused by natural resource extraction or degradation), those displaced in urban areas and those victimised by the phases of secondary displacement. 1 If these are tallied, the number of those displaced since independence would be as high as four crores (Kothari, 1996). The number of people permanently uprooted from their homes, is equal to or larger than the population of many major sovereign countries. Out of 213 lakhs people as estimated by Walter Femades and V.Paranjpe by various developmental projects, 25.5 lakhs of people have been displaced by mines, 12.5 lakhs by industries, 164 lakhs by large and medium dams, 6 lakhs by park and wild life operation and 5 lakhs by other projects. The table 2.1 presents the details of displacement of people by various development schemes in India during Secondary displacement refers to those whose livelihoods are adversely affected either as a direct and indirect or as a short-tenn and long tenn consequences of the developmental intervention but who are not acknowledged as 'project affected people (PAPs). 31

4 Table: 2.1 A conservative estimate of the total number of persons and tribals displaced by various developmental projects in India during (in Iakhs) Types of AJI DPs o/o of DPs % of Back log Back Tribals % of All Tribal DPs 0 /o of Back log o/o of Project (Lakhs) DPs Resettled Resettled (lakhs) log% Dis. (in DPs Resettled Tribal of ttibal Back (lakhs) DPs lakhs) (lakhs) DPs DPs log Dams Mines Industries Wildlife Others : ~ '"' Total [Source: Fernades,and Paranjepe, I 997, pp

5 Among the developmental projects, dams are the biggest agents of displacement India has the distinction of having the largest number of river valley projects in the world. For rapid irrigation and for hydro-electricity production, there are a total of 3,634 dams (major and medium) which have been constructed during the period of Together with 53.9lakhs displaced by medium dams, a total of 164lakhs have been displaced by all the dams between People displaced by some of the major dams is given in the table :

6 Table 2.2 Displacement by some Major Dams Completed in India ( ). S. No. Name Year of River State Area under Population completion submergence displaced,, (ha) 1. Maithan and Panchet ofd.v.c I957 Damodar Bihar I0,7I9 93, Hirakud I957 Mahanadi Orissa 73,900 I,OI,OOO 3, Koyna I96I Koyana Maharashtra II,555 20, Riband 1962 Riband Uttar Pradesh 65,000 52, Bhakra 1963 Sutlej Himachal Pradesh 16,629 36, Ukai 1972 Tapti Gujarat 64,200 1,01, Pong I974 Beas H.P 30,364 80, Nagarjunasagar 1974 Krislma A.P 28,480 28,000., 9. Tawa 1975 Tawa River M.P 20,236 38,600 1 o. \ Jayakawadi I976 Godavari Maharashtra 39,833 65,300 II. Kadana 1978 Mani Gujarat I7,722 65,300 I2. Srisaiiam 1982 Krislma A.P 43,289 1,00, Uper Kolab 1986 Kolab Orissa 9,067 9,000 Source: As cited in Fernades et al 1989,p

7 Although there are no comprehensive figures of relationship between the income and social status of the project affected oustees, some micro studies point out that a considerable number of oustees have been a small and marginal fanners, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes and other sections of society (Patel: 1986, Gangopadhya, 1993). Other studies, for instance, the fact finding team of Srisailam project point out that in this project 141 backward castes and 132 scheduled castehouseholds were displaced out of a total 344 households (FFCSP, 1986: 256). Similarly, in the Narmada Sagar and SSP, the two main Narmada Valley Project dams, it is estimated that the landless communities comprise 43 per cent and 30 per cent respectively of the total number of oustees (Alveres and Billoray, 1987: 66). In, the SSP about 60 per cent of the proposed oustees are tribals (Gadgil and Guha: 1994). V.P. Patel points out that in certain areas; well over 85 per cent landless communities belong to scheduled tribe's (Patel: 1986:80). Similarly Mridula Singh and R.K. Samant Ray in their study often out of twenty-three resettlement centres of the Nagar:_juna project, point out that 36 per cent of the oustees are tribals, 4 per cent are scheduled castes and 4. 5 per cent are other backward castes (Singh and Samant Ray: 1992: 63 ). While the proportion of tribal population displaced incase of Karjan, Panchet, Pong dams can be as high as 50 per cent of the total population, it is lowest, at about per cent and per cent of the population in the case of Hirakud and Ukai dams respectively. Thus the backward communities, more particularly the tribal regions and tribal people are most affected in this process of development since they form the 35

8 majority in the resource rich regions. The tribal areas produce most of the country's coal, mica, bauxite and other minerals. Out of 498 mines active in 1993, as many as 485 (98%), are situated in tribal regions. The only major materials found outside the tribal areas are iron and manganese per cent and per cent respectively, of which are in the predominantly nod::tribal areas (Fernades: 1991 ). Due to rapid industrialisation in tribal areas a total of 3.13 lakhs, and due to mining operation, a total of 13.3 lakhs tribals have been displaced from their ancestral lands. In addition to direct displacement, mining activity also severely affects the livelihoods of thousand more as water tables get disrupted, excessive burden is dumped on fertile agricultural lands and forest are cut. (Mohapatra: 1991). Not only are communities deprived of their vital substance resources, but the long-term sustainability of the resources is also jeopardised. While, dams (both major and medium) and canals together displaced lakhs, park and wild life operation displaced 4.5 lakhs, other projects displaced 1.25 lakhs tribals. In total, lakhs of tribal have been displaced by the entire developmental projects during This figure is more than 10 per cent of the total tribal population of the country. While they only form 7.5 percent of the country's population, their proportion among those displaced by developmental projects in the country as a whole is over 40 per cent (Sharma: 1990) lakhs tribals, who have been displaced by all the development schemes were 15 per cent of the tribal population of the country in In the recent past, the proportion of tribals among those displaced has been 36

9 increasing. For example, of the 11.6 lakh persons to be displaced by 20 representative dams above 50 meter either under construction or being planned in the 1990s, 59 per cent are tribals. The figure will obviously increase for dams planned in predominantly tribal areas. The Central Water Commission's 1990 register of large dams is also instructive (CWE: 1990). Of the 32 dams of more than 30 meter height completed between , only nine (22.13%) were in tribal areas. Between , 85 additional dams of similar sizes were either completed or were under construction. However, by now, not only were they taller and more sophisticated, but around 60 per cent of them were in the tribal region. Table 2.3 provides situation of displacement of tribals by m~or dams in India. 37

10 Table 2.3 Displacement oftribals by a Few Major Dams under Construction or Planned in Different States of India. Sl.No Name River State Population to % oftribals. be displaced I. Lalpur He ran Gujarat 11, Daman Daman Ganga Gujarat 8, Ganga Karjan Narmada Gujarat 11, Sardar Sarovar Daman Ganga Maharashtra,M.P. 7, Narmada Sagar Maheswar 8. Chandil 9. Upper Indravati Koel-Karo Daman Ganga Maharashtra,M. P. 1,70, Daman Ganga Maharashtra,M.P. 6, Indravati Orissa 18, Subranarekha Bihar. 37, Koel Karo Bihar 66, Inchampalli I Godavari MP&AP 38,100, Mahi Bajaj Sagar Tehri Mahil Maharastra 38, Baghirathi U.P 85,600 NA 13. Polavaram Godawari MP&AP 1,50, Tultuli Maharastra 13,600 NA Source: As cited in Fernedes et.al, 1989 p.85. A recent official report on the rehabilitation of tribals, based on comprehensive study of 110 projects, concludes that of the lakh's people displaced by these projects, almost 50 per cent (8. 14 lakhs) were tribals (Working Group on Development and Welfare STs: 1993). The tribals happen to be among the most depressed and underprivileged communities in India. Even after four decades of development they still remain outside the pale of any form of visible material change. Thus, the affect of displacement is more disastrous in case of tribal people (Mathur: 1994: 19). 38

11 Experience from across the tribal areas in the country illustrates the difficulties that displaced tribals have been dealing with in the market economy. Their low level of modern skills coupled with almost non-existent official efforts to facilitate an easier entry into the dominant economy, pushes a majority of tribals into conditions of servility and bondage. For a majority of the tribals, geographical space and an evolved relationship with it has contributed to their cultural identity and their complex patterns of subsistence which have primarily depended on land, forests, water bodies, and animal and plant life. In addition, most do not live in discrete nuclear families but in exttrnded ones that are integrally linked to a larger community fabric. Thus, moving to new places is just unthinkable for the tribals as they are deeply attached to their socio-economic system and environment. The word "resettlement" does not exist in many tribal languages (Escudero, 1988). The apprehension is that on relocation to new places their culture, customs, traditions, beliefs, festivals, rituals, songs and dances, social organizations, community life, will all vanish for ever (Haimnesdort: 1982). No subsequent effort can then undo the damage done to their traditional culture by resettlement. Process of Resettlement and Rehabilitation Despite large-scale displacemen~~ of people by various development projects smce independence, the country lacks a comprehensive resettlement and rehabilitation policy to resettle the uprooted people. It was in 1993 that the Ministry of Rural Development drafted a national rehabilitation policy. This is a sign of the 39

12 lack of awareness on the part of country's decision-makers, of the state of displacement. In the Indian Federal Structure, resettlement is a state issue. But, only a few state governments have come out with a comprehensive R&R policy to resettle project-affected people. Thus, due to lack of detailed and comprehensive R&R policy, the process of resettlement and rehabilitation of uprooted people has been minimal and least successful (Morse Bread Ford, 1992:: 17). Notwithstanding some efforts by governments and independent groups over the past decade, data on providing information the number of people displaced since independence, their current locations and the changes in the socio-economic status, is almost non-existent. Some indicative data highlights the severity of the apathy and indifference of official agencies and the government to take responsibility for those who, in an overwhelming number of cases have been forced to forgo their ancestral habitats and experie.1ced social and cultural disrupti_qn in the past five decades of development. For example, in the Bhakranangal project, a report prepared by the CSE points out that, out of 36,000 households displaced by the project, only 12,000 were rehabilitated. The CSE report further points out that in case of the Ukai project, only 3,500 out of 18,500 ousted families were resettled. In the case of Pong dam, the number of rehabilitated families was 9,000, out of 33,000 ousted households (CSE: 1985). On the basis of the three examples of Ukai, Bhakrangal and Pong, it can be said that on an average, only 26.5 per cent oustees have been rehabilitated. In other 40

13 cases the majority of those displaced by other renowned projects, like Hirakud dam in Orissa or the Riband dam in Uttar Pradesh, have never been officially resettled. The other illustrative example is that of the oustees of the Pong dam in Himachal Pradesh, who were displaced in late 1960s. Out of 33,000 families only 16,000 were found eligible for compensation and in the end only 3,756 family were moved hundreds of miles to a completely different cultural, linguistic and ecological zone in Rajsthan. Some. of the land meant for their occupation was already occupied, while most of the land was uncultivable. Compounding to this, the host community was not prepared for their arrival and eventually over 75 per cent returned to _,. Himachal only to find minimal support for their re-establishment (Bhanot and Singh: 1992). The amount spent on the rehabilitation of oustees is also quite low. A study conducted by the CSE states that only as little as 1 per cent of the total cost of the dam project in India has gone towards rehabilitating the DPs (CSE, 1985). In the SSP, the cost of the temporary accommodation for the staff overseeing the dam construction at the Kavedia colony, was more than the amount of compensation allotted for the rehabilitation of some 100,000 persons from the reservoir dam (Kothari and Bharati: 1984). Among the reasons for the dismal record of resettlement, the most fundamental is the disciplinary bias of project designers. Their emphasis has been mostly on engineering, finance and such other components. Often, the human dimension is neither recognised nor understood. 41

14 Many failures of previous resettlement operations are often traceable to administrative weakness. Traditionally, project authorities have not viewed resettlement as their responsibility and have tended to dump the job on local authorities. The local authorities have generally lacked professional c~pacity to cope with such challenges. Resettlement plans some times developed on adhoc basis. They were not based on any detailed planned studies indicating the number of people to be resettled. These numbers were sometimes based on guesswork. Compensation It would not be an exaggeration to say that very few resettlement programmes in the country have adequately compensated all those who are dispossessed of The question of how oustees will make a living after displacement has been a matter of lowest concern to planners. Infact, in most cases, the land acquisition act is used to pay insultingly low cash compensation that is grossly inadequate to restore and enhance standards of living. There is enough evidence of delay in the payment of compensation, which is much below the market rate at the time of displacement. In all cases, land was acquired at market price at the time the project was cleared. Compensation was given to them, however, at the time of land acquisition, which may be after a decade. For instance, incase of Bhakra Dam, land was acquired. at the prices, but the allotment of new land to some of the oustees was made at the prices, when the price had risen in the span of the decade (Thukral: 1988). 42

15 The amount of compensation given to the oustees is arbitrary determined and often involves recourse to lawyers, middlemen which only the rich oustees can afford as documented in the case of Sri Sailam (Shiva, et. al, 1991: 214) and Ukai (Karve and Nimbkar, 1969: 72, Viegas, 1992) points to a glaring instance in case of Hirakud in Orissa The oustees also have to pay a considerable amount of money as bribes to government officials to fix what is considered as fair compensation by the government and to expedite the inadequate payment they are entitled to (Thukral, 1988: 54). There is also gender bias in form of compensation. Substantial land is often worked, owned and even inherited by women in many cases, but compensation is provided to the head of the family or to men. A uniform state regulated patriarchy is thus forced upon different cultures. Compensation to oustees is limited to individual landowners, which have land titles. In tribal households and joint families, households are often registered in the name of one individual, while they are framed on the basis of nuclear households. Such policy provides the Indian state with the opportunity to minimise its expenses on compensation (Joshi, 1987~ Cash compensation is paid in lumpsum to the oustees without any advice on proper investment or help in channelising it towards a new environment. Agriculturist who have learnt only to depend on the existing natural resources for their livelihood are left without skills, to subsist in the new environment. Studies conducted on Sriram Sagar oustees reg~rding utilisation of compensation, point out that as little as 4 per cent of the oustees brought land, 20 per cent built houses, 26 per 43

16 cent repaid their old debts and 50 per cent spent on domestic needs such as marriage, cloth, food etc. Those who spent the c()mpensation money on purchase of land are big and middle farmers (Shiva, 1991, 214). The same report goes on to state that after eviction, there is a general trend towards a decline in the income of oustees, and increase in their indebtedness. It needs to be pointed out that most of the oustees live in the interior where they have little interaction with the market forces. Their resettlement only in terms of cash leaves them at the mercy of market forces about which they known little. Cash compensation to tribals often result in. more impoverishment. Being predominantly illiterate and backward, they spent the compensation money on purchasing watches, transistors, cycles, liquor, gambling. This was the case with Bhil tribes displaced by Ukai darn in the early 1970s in Gujarat and more recently those displaced by the Kutku dam in Bihar (Thukral, 1989: 44). Lack of co-ordination between States If the project involves more than one state, an entirely new set of problems anse. Disputes with regard to the distribution of benefits and costs of the rehabilitation of the ousted population begin. Most often an inter-state tribunal is set up as in Narmada Sagar Project. In such cases, the plight of the oustees is even worse because, though each state wants to maximize benefits of the proposed project, no one wants to share the responsibility of rehabilitating the people consequently displaced. 44

17 Land Acquisition Act Another important problem of displacement is the issue of land acquisition. The land acquisition act, 1894 (amended in 1984) through which the lands have been acquired for development projects, was passed by the.colonial government to make it possible for the state to acquire private land for 'public purpose'. The act provides for payment of only cash compensation and only to those who have a direct interest in the title to such land (Vaswani, 1988). Under the Act, the legal obligations of the project authorities do not go beyond 'monetary compensation' to a narrowly defined category of project affected persons (PAPs). The underlying rationale is that the displaced people should be able to rehabilitate themselves with the money given as compensation. In other words, the.. ). interpretation of resettlement stops at monetary compensation. This, according to the act, is calculated on the basis of prevailing market price of land and other properties (Ramanathan, 1996). Secondly, by restricting the entitlements of displaced people to monetary compensation for land ownership, the act forecloses taking into account the multiple dimensions of loss dispossession that occur as a result of displacement. Also cash compensation under the act is based on prevailing market price, which very often understates the real value of land even in the narrow economic sense. Thirdly, only those who hold legal title to land are entitled to the compensation. Those without legal titles (pattas) such as land less agricultural labourers, artisans, forest produce collectors, encroachers on government land, forestland and others are not entitled to compensation under the act. Tribals who 45

18 constitute a major proportion of those displaced and who may have only customary (right) titles, are denied their due (Singh, 1989, Dhagamswar, 1989). It is recognised that among the tribals, it is the informal economy that prevails and the property belongs to the whole community. Very few of them have legal documents (D'Souza, 1991 ). Besides in many cases, land records are not updated. Very often it is in the name of dead ancestors, which causes conflict among descendants who are displaced. Thus, having no occupancy right to land or habitat, they are not, infact, entitled to compensation under the present law. Additionally, the multiple and season-specific relationships with the Ecosystem which played a critical role in supporting their life styles were neither,; recognised by land acquisition act nor.. compensated. Effectively, the state intervention and the law have primarily served the interests of injustice rather than justice. Consequences of Displacement The people displaced by development projects must have elsewhere. They move no choice in the matter. There is a strong element of compulsion in displacement, as it "affects the entire community. It evicts the literate, the weak, and strong, skilled and unskilled, poor and wealthy" (Partridge, 1989, 373). Various studies have shown that involuntary displacement has caused widespread psychological stress, socio-economic and cultural problems and has heightened morbidity and mortality (Scudder, 1978, , Baboo, 1992). When people are forcefully moved out it causes a profound unraveling of existing patterns 46

19 of social organisation. Their production system is dismantled, long established residential communities and settlements are disorganised while kinship groups and family systems are often scattered. Lives sustaining informal social networks that provide mutual help are rendered non-functional. Trade linkages between producers and their customer's base are disrupted and local labour markets are interrupted.,, Formal and informal associations, and self-organised services, are wiped out by the sudden scattering of their membership. Traditional management systems tend to loose their leaders. The coerced abandonment of symbolic markers (such as ancestral shrines, graves), or of spiritual context (such as mountains and rivers considered holy or sacred trails), cut off some of the physical and psychological linkages with the past and saps at the roots of the people's cultural identity (Cemea, 1996). The consequences of displacement vary with local circumstances, but there are basic features these cases share. Cemea opines that the ultimate common factors underlying the broad spectrum of reported displacement effects are on the set of impoverishment (Cemea, 1990). The impoverishment process caused by displacement typically occurs along the following eight crucial dimensions: landless ness; marginalisation; food insecurity; loss of common property resources (CPR); increased morbidity and mortality and social disarticulation. Many sociologist and anthropologists have documented the above eight qualitative consequences of forced disp)acement. A. survey which was carried out among tribal households in five villages at Talcher, Orissa (Pandey, 1996) found an increase in unemployment from 9 per cent to 43.6 per cent, accompanied by a large 47

20 ,, shift from primary to tertiary occupation, and reported reduction in the level of earning upto 50 to 80 per cent among scheduled tribes and scheduled castes, In Rengali irrigation project, Orissa, the percentage of land less families after relocation has doubled (Ota, 1996), while in the coal mining displacements around Singrauli the proportion of landless people sky rocketed from 20 per cent before displacement to 72 per cent after displacement (Reddy, 1997). Another study of seven projects causing displacement during in Orissa (Pandey et al., 1997) has found-the problem of common property resources (CPR) in post displacement period. In Rengali project, the access to common grazing lands and burial grounds, after dislocation has come down from 23.7 per cent to 17.5 per cent. Forced displacement also tears apart the existing social fabric, disperses and fragments communities, dismantles the pattern of social organisation and interpersonal ties{ A detailed sociological study by Nayak (1986) on a dam project in India found various manifestations qf social arti~ulations without the kinship systems, such as loosing of intimate bonds, growing alienation and anomie, lower cohesion in family structures. Some times resettlers obligation towards and relationship with non-displaced kinsmen were eroded. As a result, participation ingroup activities decreased pro-harvest communal feasts and pilgrimages were discontinued. A monograph on the Hirakud dam in Orissa, found that displaced houses whose economic status has been completely shattered as a result of 48

21 displacement, did not get properly integrated in host villages for many years after relocation (Baboo, 1992). The other neglected dimension--of displacement is its adverse impact on women (Agnihotri, 1996). Their trauma is compounded by the loss of access to fuel, fodder and food, collection of which inevitably requires greater time and effort. Additionally, when displaced, most women experienced greater pauperisation and were confined to the margins of the labour market. Similarly, children are adversely affected since not only the schooling is less accessible (Mohapatra, 1996) in most cases but there is also a disintegration in the traditional socialisation process. It is clear from the above analysis that, despite the enormous problem, the ". state has not taken the problem seriously. In all the projects, the organisation and implementation of rehabilitation programme is the least thought out aspect. The continued existence of the above mentioned problems highlights the absence of R&R policy, and thus calls for in-depth research which in tum would improve the formulation of development and resettlement policies. The oustees who bear the pains never share the gains of development. Thus critics have argued that displacement caused by large development projects have actually resulted in a transfer of resources from the weaker sections of society to the more privileged ones. This has generally been the case with India's development model. The large development projects particularly mega dams create victims of development, mainly tribals and other weaker sections of the society. It can be said that bigger the development projects, greater the centralised control over them. This 49

22 centralisation has a bias in favour of large landholders, rich farmers, engmeers, bureaucrats and politicians. Thus, the development rrojects have done little to alleviate the existing socialinequalities. On the contrary, they further aggravate the already skewed social structure in favour of the socially,.~conornically and political powerful, thus throwing to the winds the socialist pretensions laid down in the constitution 50