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DAM-L LS: A Letter Comes From MP
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Subject: LS: A Letter Comes From MP
Rediff Piece, Dec. 1, 2001
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A Letter Comes From MP
----------------------
Dilip D'Souza
"In the past, there was no definite policy for rehabilitation of displaced
persons associated with the river valley projects in India
... [C]ash compensation was the practice, which resulted in the
resettlement of displaced families becoming unsustainable due to
squandering away of the compensation money. This type of
rehabilitation programmes deprived the poor and illiterate tribals from
their land,
houses, wages, natural environment and their socio-economic and
cultural milieu."
Where do you think I found those lines? In a tract put out by some pinko
environmentalists, perhaps, Luddites intent on halting India's"progress"?
Nothing of the sort. These are from a written submission the Government of
India made to the Supreme Court in the Narmada case that was decided last
year. The submission quotes and explains provisions about resettlement and
rehabilitation (R&R) that are in the Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal (NWDT)
Award of 1979. This Award ended years of wrangling between Gujarat,
Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and determined how the waters of the Narmada
river would be shared among them. Thus it defines and is the basis for the
dam projects on that river, including the best-known of them: Sardar
Sarovar.
As you can see, the Award was explicit about the failures of R&R in previous
river projects in India. Why? Because the NWDT wanted to contrast those
failures with the R&R package the Award goes on to spell out: an acclaimed
set of measures that the three states then further liberalised. The whole
tone of the Award through this section about R&R is of remorse for past
neglect and indifference ("no definite policy", no less), and resolve for
future justice. Resolve to treat some of our most vulnerable people better
than they have been. In fact, the first objective of R&R, the Award says,
must be to "improve the standard of living or at least
regain the standard of living [displaced persons] had been enjoying prior to
their
displacement."
Notice, in that light, the mention of "cash compensation" and its dangers.
In the past, governments would simply acquire land for projects, uproot the
people who used it and dole out handfuls of rupees to them. And that's where
this actually happened: there were plenty of cases where it did not. The
NWDT Award specifically recognizes the dangers of distributing cash
like this, noting he way it ruined lives. This very recognition shaped the
generous R&R package the Award offers.
That was 1979. Leap forward twenty-two years. In May this year, the
Government of Madhya Pradesh (GoMP) wrote a letter to the Narmada Control
Authority that contains these lines:
[T]he Government of MP proposes that following [clause be added to the
NWDT Award]:
[T]he displaced family shall have the option of obtaining full
compensation for settling down and purchasing land in a village of his
choice ... An option once exercised shall be final and no claim for
allotment of land can be made afterwords [sic].
In other words, MP has proposed to give displaced people "the option" of
cash compensation for giving up their land. It wants to make this explicitly
a part of the Award. It blithely ignores the equally explicit language in
the Award that warns of the danger of doling out cash.
What a pretty circle we tread: hand out cash compensation for years while
displacing people for "development", recognize the harm caused by and the
injustice of doing so, formulate and put in place more humane R&R measures,
return to cash compensation.
Why do you suppose that the Government of Madhya Pradesh has suggested this
return to doles? Well, that letter to the Narmada Control Authority tells us
the reasons, and in doing so leaves us with a host of things to think about.
The GoMP has become increasingly worried about its ability to carry out its
R&R commitments in the Narmada projects. Remember that MP is the state with
the largest number of displaced people. A 1998 Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam
Limited publication I have says that one dam will displace 40,727
"project-affected persons" (PAPs), of whom 33,014 are in MP. Of those
33,014, nearly 14,000 are "willing to settle in Gujarat"; that still leaves
MP with the task of finding land for about 19,000 people. And that's just
this one dam that isn't even in MP. Most of the other planned dams on the
Narmada are actually in MP and will displace their own thousands of
people.
The GoMP's letter observes that the number of "project-affected families"
(PAFs)is increasing day by day necessitating requirement of larger area of
land in Madhya Pradesh. ... According to Government of MP, there is paucity
of cultivable government land in MP. As pointed out at
various fora, it is difficult to arrange more land for the oustees [who
choose to stay in MP]. Although efforts are on to identify and procure as
much land as possible for allotment to the oustees, past experience does not
raise hopes very high.
Quite an admission in those last eight words. Not only is MP uneasy about
fulfilling its future R&R commitments, it is far from sanguine about how it
has done in the past. I find it difficult to imagine that anyone can examine
India's -- not just MP's -- record of R&R in our myriad "development"
projects and still believe that that first objective of R&R, as spelled out
by the NWDT Award, will be fulfilled. Regardless of how generous the R&R
package looks on paper. Because your natural tendency, as a person about to
be displaced by a dam, is to look at this "past experience" -- which the
Award itself describes. If you do that, your hopes of being treated justly
are hardly likely to rise "very high" either.
Indeed, "past experience does not raise hopes very high", and that's
precisely why so many people object to these dam projects in the first
place. But with that admission taken care of, the GoMP's letter goes on to
further explain its reasons for amending the NWDT Award:
[The] Hon'ble Chief Minister of MP ... had very explicitly observed
that, if the PAFs are to be allotted agricultural land and arrangement
of land is to be made by the State ... then it will be very difficult
to adhere to the time frame for the resettlement of the PAFs as
approved by the Narmada Control Authority.
You see, the NWDT Award's Sub-Clause IV(7) of Clause XI, entitled "Allotment
of Agricultural Lands", which forms part of that R&R package I keep
mentioning, explicitly says that displaced families "shall be entitled to
and be allotted irrigable land." A minimum of 2 hectares of such land per
family. So the Honourable Chief Minister of MP is saying that if the PAFs
are to actually get what has only been promised to them -- and promised to
them in a package that has been repeatedly hailed as "liberal" and
"generous" -- not only will that be hard to do, but it will also take an
inordinate amount of time. So inordinate that it will threaten the dam
builders' own schedule for R&R.
And you see, this is why the GoMP wants to amend that NWDT Award. In fact,
its letter says it wants to amend that very Sub-Clause IV(7) of Clause XI by
introducing a provision on the option of the oustee to accept compensation
in full in one installment to enable him to purchase
land and settle down as per his choice.
And in case you have any doubts, let me assure you that in suggesting this
amendment, the GoMP is thinking solely of the welfare of those PAFs. As the
letter itself says, the proposed amendment is in the interest of the
displaced family as it would enable him [sic]
to settle down and purchase land in a village of his choice at the earliest.
Small question: if the Government finds it "difficult to arrange" for land
for these PAFs, how will the PAFs themselves arrange for and buy it, and
that "at the earliest"? Second small question: Just what happened to the
NWDT's observation that cash handouts "deprived the poor and illiterate
tribals from their land, houses, wages, natural environment and their
socio-economic and cultural milieu"?
Then again, who has time for small questions? There are schedules at stake!
This same letter mentions still another one. The amended policy, it says,
"will also help complete the project as schedule [sic]." Yes sir. It is
apparently "very difficult to adhere to the time frame"
for R&R. But the project itself must be completed "as schedule."
The hell with R&R, just build the dam! Here, take your money and begone!
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