Land alienation and displacement

Types of land alienation
✓Tribal
✓Non-tribal
✓Government

Tribal and non-tribal
✓Kamal K. Mishra’s ‘Study of alienation of tribal lands in Scheduled V Areas (2002)176 of Andhra Pradesh, undivided M.P. and Odisha is a comprehensive study of tribal land alienation.
✓The study revealed that 1,396 tribal households out of the 6,358 sample households (21.95 percent) had lost 6185.5 acres of their land constituting 24.69 percent of the total tribal land in villages under study between1999-2000.
✓Tribal to tribal transfer of land accounted for 14.04%, while tribal to nontribal transfer was 85.95%.
There are eight different methods adopted by the land transferees in the study villages, namely by
a) Sale
b) Mortgage
c) Benami transfer
d) Forcible occupation
e) Oral transfer of possession
f)Marital alliance
g) In the name of concubines
h) By other fraudulent means.

Government

✓Developmental
Development-induced displacement by acquisition of land by the State based on principle of ‘eminent domain’ for ‘public purpose’ without a ‘land for land ‘provision for rehabilitation. Acquisition by the State for development projects also leads to alienation of land and displacement due to environmental pollution and damage to land in the area near projects but tribal people so displaced are not entitled to any compensation.

• Dams and irrigation projects
• Hydroelectric projects
• Mining
• Power plants- thermal and nuclear
• Industrial complexes
• Defence Testing and development sites
• Infrastructure projects

✓Conservation
Creation of National Parks have resulted in alienation of rights and consequent displacement and forced migration of tribal people.

• National parks
• Wild life sanctuaries
• Reserved and protected forest

✓Illegal land alienation
Illegal land alienation takes place due to participation of revenue functionaries and officials, and incorrect interpretation of laws, manipulation of records and permission accorded to alienate land. State Laws are amended to include provisions that facilitate land alienation of tribal communities.

✓Community property rights
Community land of tribal communities is recorded as Government land in survey and settlement operations and most State tenancy laws recognize only individually owned registered land. Such lands have not been fully surveyed and there is no record of user practices, which would be shown as Government land.

✓Refugees and migration
State action of acquiring tribal lands for settling refugees has resulted in land alienation and displacement. There is also encroachment of tribal land by immigrants.

✓Conflicts and displacement
Conflicts in the Northeast and naxal movement in central India have resulted in tribal people losing everything and being displaced from their home ground.

Displacement in the north east

Traditionally, this region had a three-tier land ownership and control system: first, community land; second, individual land; and third, clan land. Every community had well-defined boundaries and traditional administration systems based on customary law. There were definite rules on who could cultivate what land and in which season and generally was controlled by the village council made up of men alone. Changes have been conditioned both by external forces and internal dynamism. Land has become a marketable commodity; its exchange happens both within and outside the community. Internal transfer of land or mortgage has resulted in inequalities in its distribution and control. Such internal disparity is one form of land alienation within the community. Among several causes of land alienation within the community, the most important is the growing indebtedness, because of the need for money for medical care and education.

The external cause of land alienation is the high demand for land for development projects. The second demand comes from the immigrants who encroach on tribal land. Development projects, especially major dams, being planned in the region, will put pressure on tribal land. A consequence of these processes is shortage of land and ethnic conflicts around it.

State action of acquisition of land, migration of outsiders and occupation of tribal lands are among the major processes, resulting in tribal people losing control over their land.

Development-induced displacement

Development projects are one of the main causes of tribal land alienation, for example the National Highway that changed the scene completely. The land used for the bypass near Guwahati, including the Games Village, was once the basis for tribal livelihood. Several tribes, especially the Karbi, Tiwa and Garo were earlier found in sizeable numbers in these areas. Dubious means were used by the State and contractors to lure the original occupants to part with their land. Karbis in and around Ganeshpur-Dispur area lived off the land that was fertile and yielded abundant fruit. This fertile area today has been privatised and lost forever.

Another example is that of 20,000 MHz Siang Dam in Arunachal Pradesh, which has submerged the habitat of tribal people, affecting their lives adversely. Laws have made forests are state property that leading to loss of access to forest on which tribal people depended for livelihood. The amendment of the Assam Land Reforms and Land Regulations Act, 1886, in 1947 has gone against tribal people, because it facilitates manipulation of records. Land grabbers have become more active, after it came into effect, resulting in only 25 of the 35 belts and blocks remaining under the tribes.

A perennial problem in Assam is river bank erosion by the Brahmaputra. It has eaten up more than 700 villages in the last two decades. However, when a stronger community is affected, it usually encroaches on the land of a weaker group and in this case tribal land. Such processes that affect all communities have a more serious impact on tribals than on others. The resettlement of external refugees has caused many internal refugees. Mizoram had been hosting temporarily, a Burmese population of 70,000 to 1,00,000 people, who had fled political repression and military oppression. By the end of 1957, 53,318 refugee families had settled in Tripura, out of which, 43,322 families settled down in rural areas (Report of the Administration of the Union Territory of Tripura for the year 1957- 58). Since a large number of refugee families were settled in agriculture, it put pressure on agricultural land and eventually put pressure on areas reserved for tribals, which were used by them for Jhum cultivation. There was, therefore, resentment in Tripura, where Bangladeshi Hindu immigrants had occupied more than 60 per cent of the tribal land by 1970. The tribal displaced were not able to defend their livelihood although these lands were CPR, according to their customary law but land laws recognized only individual ownership. Researchers point out that further diversion of CPR through displacement for the Dumbur dam in the 1970s resulted in the insurgency.

A field study conducted in Assam shows that out of 19,18,874 DPs/PAPs displaced in the period (1947- 2000), 4,16,321 (21.80 per cent) were tribal DPs/ PAPs. Researchers have estimated that 14,05,192.92 acres have been acquired/ diverted for projects, out of which 28.05 per cent is private land, 55.65 per cent
is CPR, for 16.30 per cent the type of land was not available. Tribal and other poor DPs/ PAPs, dependent on CPR for livelihood were not compensated.

Displacement in the Northeast due to conflicts: The North-eastern States have witnessed a series of armed conflict and violence, since India’s independence in 1947, which have caused massive internal displacement, of hundreds of thousands of people. The region has also received a steady flow of refugees from neighbouring East Pakistan/Bangladesh, Tibet and Myanmar. In fact, immigration has reduced the number of tribal communities, to a minority in some parts of the region. Though, the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution has become a major tool to provide protection to tribal people in North-eastern States, the problem lies in the fact that many of these groups do not live in distinct areas and their demand for ethnic homeland often overlap with other groups. As a result, their demand for homeland leads to conflict and violence, which has, in turn caused internal displacement. In Manipur, (1992) the conflict between Kukis and Nagas displaced 11,000 population including Kukis and Nagas from their particular places. Mizoram also experienced ethnic violence between Kukis/Paites in 1997 and this led to displacement of 62,880 persons. Bru tribals were displaced for years. Immigration has come to be linked closely to land, because of the influx of labourers from outside the region. Often these labourers are treated as ‘outsiders’ by the local community, in the controversy of indigenous versus non-indigenous population. The tea garden workers, who are originally from the central tribal belt, demand recognition as a tribal group which is vehemently opposed by the local community. Migration to western Assam from East Bengal, now Bangladesh, began in the 1920s, as a deliberate British policy to settle people on waste land; this created a problem as the Boro depended on that land for livelihood. Post-1947 era has witnessed an influx of immigrants from the Hindi speaking regions of North India and from Bangladesh in search of a livelihood. Till 1947, only Assam and to some extent, Tripura experienced immigration from outside the region. Today, most States of the region have to face this problem. It is difficult to make an estimate of the exact number of immigrants, especially of the Bangladeshi, because of political reasons.
The conflicts in this region are mostly linked to land alienation, due to influx of outsiders as people are fighting for natural resources in the same geographical space. A study of Guwahati University showed that a large number of youth, who joined militant groups had employment as one of the motives. During the visit of the Committee to Assam, NGOs representing tribal interests expressed their angst that if nothing was done to stop the influx of outsiders, they would be doomed and vanish as a community. In this background, State inaction in solving problems of tribal people of the region has led to tribal people losing control over land and community resources and resultant displacement. The State Government should be proactive in protecting the interests of tribal people and in preventing alienation of their resources, in tribal land restoration, poverty alleviation and human resource development. The problem of unemployment has to be addressed. Tribal communities should be made participants in the processes of development.

Case Study of Tribal land alienation by corporate houses in Chhattisgarh: A case study based on field study conducted by Stanislaus Tirkey, Secretary, CBCI Tribal Affairs, Delhi, has brought to light several cases of land alienation by corporate sector, for example 90 acres of tribal land has been acquired for Gulu Hydroelectric Power Private. Ltd. in Manora Block of Jashpur (Chhattisgarh). According to the researcher, cheques for 31 affected families were given fraudulently, under the pretext of bonus for farmers in a so-called Kisan Mela at Manora block. People were unaware about the compensation given to them. The project affects 22 villages around Gulu, Jhargaon, Matlonga and Alori. Information collected through RTI by researchers, reveal that the consent of the actual Gram Sabha was not obtained as per provisions of PESA. Similarly, tribal land was acquired from 38 farmers for Loker Dam in the name of a Gram Sabha. Researchers have stated that the minutes book and records of Panchayats of Rede, Saraitola, Bangaon B, Pemla, Jamargi B, Chiknipani (Karradanr), Loker and Godhi, show that no Gram Sabha meeting has ever taken place to approve the project. This project will affect nine Panchayats in the area.

The case study reveals that Avantha Group has acquired 43.7 hectare of tribal land in the name of eight tribals in Pusaur in Raigarh district: Sharda Energy and Minerals Limited has purchased the entire tribal land in Kerkachhar village of Baloda block in Janjgir-Champa in the name of only three tribals. One Jaykumar Paraste has bought 24 hectares of land worth 2.84 crores from 35 tribals. However, no one knows the whereabouts of Paraste. Videocon bought 28 hectares of agricultural land worth 3.36 crore in the tribal villages of Gond and Gadpali in Janjgir Champa to set up 1,200 MW power plant. It bought land in the name of Bilam Singh from Kabeerdham. Further, the case study indicates that Government land records show at least 1,981 cases of transfer of tribal land to non-tribals in the past three years. In
Mahasamund, 150 cases of such kind were recorded for investigation by the Commissioner in 2011. In Bastar, a Scheduled Area district, 63 cases of tribal land transfers to non-tribals, were registered.

According to a 1964 Act that is in force in Chhattisgarh, a non-tribal may not buy a tribal land; he can only do so with the permission of the Collector and the Commissioner. Therefore, researchers have raised the question as to how tribal land, on such a large scale has been alienated. Further, there have been violations of PESA which endow Gram Sabha “the power to prevent land alienation of land in the Scheduled Areas and to take appropriate action to restore any unlawful alienated land of a Scheduled Tribe.”

The case study reveals that people have started organizing themselves to protect natural resources and resources of their livelihood under the banner of Jashpur Jan Sangharsh Samittee, Jashpur and Chhattisgarh Visthapan Virodhi Manch, Raipur against the unconstitutional and illegal way of exploring minerals and alienating tribal land in the name of development and thereby destroying their traditions and distinctive cultures and disrupting well-knit communities. It is clear that all this is taking place with the connivance of official machinery. In such specific cases as brought out by the case study, the State should get the matter enquired and take action for restoration and prevent further tribal land alienation. NGO support in such cases is invaluable.

Displacement in Chhattisgarh due to conflict

One of the reasons for displacing tribal people is conflict between the Maoist and Governments (both centre and State) and ‘Salwa Judum’, a State sponsored armed campaign that was launched to combat Maoists. Though it is argued that Salwa Judum was a spontaneous reaction of the civilians to the Maoists, there are evidences to show the hand of the State machinery in the whole process. Shri. K. S. Subramanian, a former Director General of Police, was quoted as saying- “While official sources maintain that the campaign, led by a local legislator, is hugely successful with the tribal people joining it in large numbers, local enquiries revealed a different picture. In the name of Salwa Judum, the tribal people are being forced to join a far from spontaneous mobilization [sic]… Hundreds have been killed on both sides. A large area of land remains uncultivated; tribal people who are meant to work on the land have deserted the villages and are living under open skies and are starving. A vast amount of corruption has crept in as a result of this misconceived campaign with the Ruling party spending huge amounts on it.”

During the visit of HLC to Bastar, NGO representatives had narrated the problem of innocent tribal villagers being caught between security forces and Left Wing Extremists and claimed that thousands of villagers had been displaced as a result of counter-insurgency movements many had been forced to migrate and that one lakh tribal people were missing. Neither the Central nor the State Government monitors the number of people displaced due to conflict.. Whatever data is available on the displaced persons in Chhattisgarh concentrates only on displacement caused by Salwa Judum from 2005 to 2007. Based on number of camp residents staying as on 21/1/2007 in twenty camps located in 11 Blocks of three districts it has been surmised that 47238 persons were affected by Salwa Judum. Researchers feel that this may not give the total picture Out of 1354 villages in undivided Dantewada district, 644 villages were affected by Salwa Judum. In addition 20,000 tribal people have fled to the forests of Andhra Pradesh as mentioned in the report of The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre of the Norwegian Refugee Council.

The State government should collect data of tribal people affected by conflict and take up measures to ensure that displaced people are resettled and rehabilitated in their villages and it is the responsibility of the State to provide security and promote peace between those who joined Salwa Judum and those who did not. The tribals who were displaced, due to the conflict should not face alienation of their land.

Process of involuntary displacement

Mineral and hydro-electric resource-rich States of India tend to be the very places, which are home to vast majority of tribal people. Baxi has highlighted that people are not partners in the process of decision making regarding construction of dams, areas of submergence, environment impact, allocation of resources and allocation of benefits and adverse impacts of development. Displacement is a process in which marginalized sections, the majority being tribal people, are pushed out of their own habitat and dispossessed of their resources and indeed their universe around them. In post-independence period, their experience of displacement is as dehumanizing as before independence.

The unrestricted power of the State to acquire privately-owned land without any obligation on the State to rehabilitate persons affected has resulted in large number of cases of inadequate compensation, forcible acquisition even without payment of compensation, without replacement of livelihood, without provision of alternative land, without preparation of resettlement sites and without recognition of loss of right to access forest, other CPR and loss of community ties, cultural and religious heritage. Social injustice of State action in reducing every right and interest of tribal people and other marginalized people in their lands to a claim for monetary compensation and the incorrect assumption that money can compensate for all losses, that all displaced are familiar with money market and would know how to handle compensation money. In the case of displaced tribal people their unfamiliarity with money market led to devastating consequences. All this has led to ‘abject and chronic impoverishment’ of the displaced, which should not be acceptable anywhere in the world, leave alone in democratic India.

Various studies relating to displacement by large projects in various parts of India have documented that Public Authorities and Private Corporations alike have either sought to or succeeded in acquiring land, forest and other common property resources from marginalized groups, by giving meager compensation. Most studies document that their rehabilitation has been slip-shod, half- hearted and majority of the condition of displaced and project affected people is much worse off than before displacement with many being forced to migrate in search of work.

Further, the Displaced People (DPs) and Project Affected Persons (PAPs), who were better organized and articulate have been able to get the benefits of the Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R & R) much better as compared to those who were not organized by NGOs or civil society and who could not articulate their
grievances, have ended up being pauperized.

Summary
Causes
✓Prolonged indebtedness
✓Inflow of non tribals and market forces
✓Lack of knowledge regarding laws and rights
✓Religious and social obligations like festivals and marriages
✓Poor understanding of legal procedures and litigations
✓Health expenditure
✓Apathy of officials
Impact
✓Landlessness
✓Joblessness
✓Homelessness
✓Marginalization
✓Deterioration of health and increase in morbidity
✓Food insecurity
✓Loss of access to community property resources
✓Dismantling of production system
✓Desecration of ancestral sacred zones/groves and temples
✓Scattering of kinship group and family system
✓Disorganization of informal social network
✓Weakening of self-management and self-control
✓Psychological and socio-cultural stress
✓Disruption of trade and market links
Impact on women
✓Bride price- dowry
✓Prostitution
✓Trafficking
✓Child marriage
✓Declining of Status
✓Sex ratio
✓Psychological trauma
✓Economic disempowerment
Case studies
a) Gulu hydroelectric project, Chhattisgarh
b) Koel karo dam- Mundas
c) Subarnarekha project- Ho
d) Polavaram- Konda Reddi
e) SHAR project- Yanadi
f)Rajaji national park- Van Gujjar
Measures
a) Tenancy acts
b) Land transfer regulation acts
c) Forest rights act
d) PESA act and the role of Gram Sabha
Failure
✓Lacunae in the laws
✓Ignorance of tribals
✓Complicated legal procedures

Rehabilitation Policy:

In simple terms, rehabilitation is defined as transfer of population from one area to another on a planned basis. So far there has been no national policy on settlement of displaced persons. Hence individual states have adopted their own rehabilitation policy on the basis of experiences in rehabilitating persons
displaced through major projects. Several state and central governments and international bodies have recommended rehabilitation policies.

Recommendations of Working Group on Development of Scheduled Tribes

Though both tribals and non-tribals are displaced the problems faced by tribals are different from those of non-tribals. As the kinship of tribals is parochially organised, migration to far off places is difficult. As the tribe’s lack education, they also find it difficult to adjust in alien locations. The dependency of tribes on forests is more than the non tribals and the tribal who are economically weak find it difficult to settle into avocations in new settlements. In the rehabilitation policies of State Government, the emphasis was on land and house site allotment. Those tribal who were landless never qualified for any compensation. In almost all the states the rehabilitation in unsatisfactory. The working group on development of scheduled tribes made the following recommendations for the rehabilitation of displaced tribals.

• 1) Formulation of a policy for rehabilitation of project displaced persons at the national level and special measures to be taken in the interest of scheduled tribes.
• 2) The Policy should enjoy that rehabilitation of displaced tribals should form an integral part of all Industries, Irrigation, Power, Mining and Other Projects.
• 3) Jobs for displaced tribals should be reserved in ancillary and finished goods to the main project.
• 4) A project displacing tribals should give preference to tribals in jobs as far as possible and training facilities should be extended to them well in advance at the project.
• 5) Supporting services around the major project (like poultry, fishery, dairy, carpentry) should be encouraged exclusively through tribal cooperatives where the project site in a tribal belt.
• 6) Group rehabilitation should be the rule in case of displaced tribals and all civic amenities should be provided there.
• 7) Displaced tribals who are agriculturists should be in agriculture and landless tribal settled should be settled in other vocation of their own line as far as possible.
• 8) Land allotment for tribals should be made in the command area or else irrigation facilities should be provided in areas other than command areas.
• 9) There should be a full-fledged Direction of Rehabilitation in every State. A State level rehabilitation committee under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary should be formed to review programmes and the process of rehabilitation”.
• 10) The Cost Rehabilitation should from an integral part of the project and it should include costs required to train the tribals in the jobs and services.

“Keeping in view the lead time for planning and implementation of the resettlement proposals and the time of physical occupation of the land by the project for submergence under the project, the resettlement officers should prepare draft schemes of settlement for approval by the Director of Rehabilitation before execution.” Funds for resettlement should be provided in the budget under a separate head to be operated by the Director of Rehabilitation. Compensation to tribal should be deposited in favour of the concerned tribals in a pass book in the nearby post office or bank. There should be involvement of the Ministry of Home Affairs in all cases where displacement of the tribals is involved.

World Bank Guidelines for Rehabilitation of Tribals:

The World Bank is providing finance for a number of development projects in the developing countries and they have given some guidelines for World Bank aided projects. They are:

• (i) “Displacement of human settlement should be avoided as far as possible, if unavoidable, displacement should be reduced to the minimum.
• (ii) All resettlement programmes must be development programmes as well as that the productive base and income earning ability of resettles are improved and they share the benefits of the projects which displaced them.
• (iii) Socio-economic survey of the affected area and population to be displaced should be conducted well in advance.
• (iv) It is responsibility of the concerned government to relocate the affected persons foe which an appropriate rehabilitation action plan with time scheduled is to the prepared.
• (v) While planning resettlement programmes as well as in executing them the affected people should be consulted either directly or through their
• representatives.
• (vi) To avoid misunderstanding or friction among the resettles and the in habitats it is necessary to mete equitable treatment in the matter of development activities, civic amenities.

The approach to the resettlement programme should be to ensure that the oustees regain at least their previous standard of living and as far as practicable, they should be economically and socially integrated into the host communities. To achieve this, a realistic action plan should be prepared in a manner that would give the settlers the opportunity to become physically established and economically self-sustaining in the shortest possible time. The action plan should contain the following.

• (i) Adequate compensation should be paid for the land and property lost by the oustee.
• (ii) For the oustees who lost agricultural land, an agricultural redevelopment package should be prepared in the new set up. For this an adequate extent of land should be allocated in the new set up. Land which should have been reclaimed and have irrigation facilities should be identified.
• (iii) Where the land available is not suitable for agriculture, programmes should be made for tree and orchard development, social forestry pisciculture etc.
  (iv) For the landless artisans especially when land is not available, non-landbased programmes need to be framed. They would include the services sector, industrial sector, self-employment avenues etc.
• (v) Cash payment alone for resettlement and rehabilitation should be avoided. Alternative homes, employment opportunities, etc. should also be provided and the “Land for Land” approach should be rigidly followed.
• (vi) There should be an Environment management plan so as to protect the environment.
• (vii) Oustees should be shifted to resettlement sites sufficiently ahead of impounding of the reservoir. There should be organisation to oversee the implementation of the rehabilitation and settlement action plan with adequate budget provisions and timely monitoring of the progress and completion of resettlement activities.

Rehabilitation Measures:

The foregoing discussion reveals that the benefits that accrue to people cannot counterweight the harm done by industrial projects. The harm done is more serious here because it is principally imposed on the most vulnerable section of society, i.e. the local tribals. To stand to these adverse effects and have a comfortable life, they need Planned rehabilitation. The following are some of the possible measures for improving the situation of the tribals evicted due to industrial development.

• 1) The tribal and other backward people have a strong attachment for their soil. Therefore, every effort should be made to select the resettlement site in accordance with the liking of the uprooted people. This would help in preserving their own way of life and also wining their confidence. Efforts should be made to involve the leaders of the affected people in the process of planning and execution of rehabilitation measures in order to take the oustees into confidence and for proper adjustment in the new environment.
• 2) The compensation amount should not be paid fully in cash to prevent its mystification. Instead alternative arrangements should be made for acquiring permanent assets. Further, the provisions should be made for paying an ex-gratia amount to those families, who do not have any land and assets for meeting the expenses in the transitional period.
• 3) One of the important aspects of rehabilitation is to provide and alternative gainful employment to the unrooted people. Therefore, various training programmes suitable for tribal aptitudes should be conducted to enhance the skills among the uprooted, so that they can eventually be absorbed in the project.
• 4) All government sponsored employment programmes should be made available to the uprooted people and appropriate safeguards should be evolved in the agreement between the contractors of various works and the project authorities for providing employment opportunities on continuous basis.
• 5) Since there is a wide scope for self-employment, it is also necessary to train them in managerial skills, which is very important for self-employed entrepreneurs. In addition, organising and financing, for gainful vocation like poultry farming, animal husbandry, cottage industries, fishery, kitchen gardening, etc. should go a long way in improving the living standards of uprooted as well as local people. Further, they should be encouraged to adopt a production pattern based on actual and anticipated needs of the people in townships for improvingtheir earning capacities.
• 6) Proper attention should be given to environmental protection and necessary steps should be taken for maintaining, the ecological balance in the project area.
• 7) Lastly, the integrated development of the region should be planned in such a way as to achieve a balance between technological and cultural development, between agricultural and industrial economy, between rural and urban industrial way life. These changes must be brought and continuously along with their traditional institutions to enable them to adjust to the changed economy and society as well as promoting a more heterogeneous socio-economic development.

The various guidelines put forward in this paper are of prime importance for planned rehabilitation of the uprooted tribal population. The very objective of establishing large industrial projects for the development of backward tribal area will be achieved only when the uprooted people are properly resettled, other-wise the very purpose of development through industrialisation is lost.

There are some problems which are peculiar to the displacement and rehabilitation of the tribals.

• 1) While the kinship and social network of the general population are spread far and wide, in the case of tribals, they are confined to a limited area.
• 2) On account of low educational levels and the traditional of a life of comparative isolation, the tribals find it difficult to adjust to an alien location characterised by heterogeneity of population, culture and levels of living.
• 3) They are too much dependent for living on the forest and its produces, limiting their ability to take up new avocations and exploit economic opportunities and natural resources available in the new environment.

Due to such factors, the rehabilitation and adjustment of displaced tribals have not been smooth, and this has created considerable discontent among the displaced communities leading to agitations, which sometimes adversely affects the working of the projects.

National Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy, 2007

The revised National Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy, 2007 formulated by the Ministry of Rural Development has been approved by the Cabinet on 11th Oct., 2007 and the same has been published in the Gazette of India on 31st Oct., 2007.

Some highlights of the revised policy are:

• Policy covers all cases of involuntary displacement.
• Social Impact assessment (SIA) introduced for displacement of 400/200 or more families in plain/tribal, hilly, Scheduled areas, etc;
• Consultations with Gram Sabhas or public hearing made compulsory;
• Principle of rehabilitation before displacement;
• If possible, land for land as compensation;
• Skill development support and preference in project jobs ( one person per nuclear family );
• Rehabilitation Grant in lieu of land/job;
• Option for shares in companies implementing projects to affected families;
• Housing benefits to all affected families including the landless;
• Monthly pension to the vulnerable, such as disabled, destitute, orphans, widows, unmarried girls, etc;
• Monetary benefits linked to the Consumer Price Index; also to be revised suitably at periodic intervals;
• Necessary infrastructural facilities and amenities at resettlement areas;
• Periphery development by project authorities;
• Committees for each project, to be headed by Administrator for R &R.
• Ombudsman for Grievance Redressal;
• National Rehabilitation Commission for external oversight.

The revised policy covers all projects leading to involuntary displacement of people and special provisions for Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes, the main features of which are given below: –

• Consultation with the concerned gram Sabha or the panchayats at the appropriate level in the Scheduled Areas under Schedule V of the Constitution in accordance with provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act 1996. Each Affected family of Scheduled Tribe followed by Scheduled Caste shall be given allotment of land for land, if Government Land is available in the resettlement Area.
• In case of land being acquired from the members of the Scheduled Tribes, at least one third of the compensation amount be paid at the outset as first
• instalment and rest at the time of taking the possession of the land.
• Additional one-time financial assistance equivalent to five hundred days minimum agricultural wages for loss of customary rights or usage of forest produce.
• Scheduled Tribes to get free of cost land for community and religious gathering, to the extent decided by the appropriate government.
• Scheduled Tribes affected families resettled out of district to get twenty five percent higher benefits in monetary terms.
• Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes affected families to be given fishing rights in the reservoir areas of the irrigation or hydel projects
• Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes affected families enjoying reservation benefits in the affected areas shall be entitled to get the reservation benefits at the resettlement areas.

Involuntary Displacement and Tribal Situation > Before and After :  From Self-sufficient Tribal Communities to Marginalization and Impoverishment

The traditional livelihood systems of tribal people based on shifting cultivation and collection of non-timber forest produce was rendered sustainable, by a level and pattern of utilization of land and forest resources, which ensured their selfgenerating capacity. Later, they took to settled agriculture and their livelihood system provided for a nutritionally balanced food consumption basket that was rooted in both subsistence and conservation ethics. The traditional livelihood system was based on customary rights of tribal communities over land and forests, which was also an ‘extensive’ system of production. The ‘common pool’ of resources supported customary rights and prevented the intensification of production, in the interest of conserving and sustaining the long-term productivity of livelihood resources. The customary rights of tribal people over livelihood resources and their territorial sovereignty (in so far as land was territory, not property) came in to conflict with the forces of ‘modernisation’ and the development process in which they were not participants. In keeping with the politico-economic policies of the country, large projects, which came up in tribal areas rich in hydro and mineral resources, encroached on tribal people’s ancestral lands and thereby displaced them.

In order to take measures against the socio-economic deterioration of displaced tribal people, it is important to understand the extent of displacement-induced impoverishment. Displacement is marginalisation, not merely economic deprival. Therefore, in defining impoverishment, it is necessary to go beyond the economic factor and it is incorrect to calculate losses and gains on the basis of monetary income alone or to conclude that the status of the DPs improves after displacement, because their monetary income rises. In making an assessment, it would not be right to ignore the fact that before displacement, most DPs/PAPs belonged to the non-monetised informal economy and often depended on the CPRs or services to the village as a community.

Before displacement, the DPs/PAPs were poor, but it is due to deprival of their livelihood that they experience deterioration of their economic status. This dispossession is accompanied with environmental degradation, which is a basic additional factor causing impoverishment. The decision to alienate their resources is without their consent; they are not compensated and rehabilitated, resulting in their subordination. This marginalization leads to low self-esteem. The sustainable tribal culture that had ensured renewal and equal distribution of resources is weakened, leading to shortage of resources. The tragedy is that for sheer survival, the tribal DPs/PAPs are forced to ‘make a transition from constructive to destructive dependence on the same resources’. This causes great psychological stress.

Factors that accentuate loss faced by tribal people

Researchers have identified certain characteristics of tribal society that aggravate the impact of involuntary displacement, they are:

• Land for tribes is a source of livelihood and source of identity, ethnicity and cultural distinction. Thus, the loss of land plays havoc with the lives of the displaced tribal communities. Under R&R programmes, land is not replaced and there is no reconstitution of livelihoods. Loss of their cultural space and identity leads to cultural impoverishment, which is not addressed.
• Dependence on forests for food in the form of shifting cultivation, fruits and flowers, small game, tubers; for medicines, fodder, material for house building; raw material for traditional art and crafts; income by selling firewood, leaf-plates, fruits etc. This loss, due to displacement is not compensated and affects food security.
• Lack of proper legal recognition of tribes over the forest land and hill tracts compounds the problem, when it comes to the question of compensation.
• Lack of social relations outside the closely-knit kin-centered society. Displacement leads to disruption in family life and to loss of social network.
• The land rights structure in tribal societies is altogether different from what it is in other societies. Tribal communities do not confer any individual rights in a legal sense. The community rights they confer are the utilitarian rights on nature but not the proprietary rights which attract the provisions of compensatory measures. Many a time, displaced tribal people were deprived of compensation and rehabilitation benefits as per the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 because they did not possess any legal documents to prove their ownership right on the land they occupy and earn their livelihood from.

Contrast in coping mechanism: Vulnerability of the tribal displaced Other social groups are in better position to benefit from R&R programmes. For example, about 88 percent of land acquired for the National Aluminium Corporation at Angul, a non-tribal district in Odisha, in the mid-1980s was private. Its owners, who mainly belonged to a dominant and influential social group were paid Rs 62,000 per hectare. At Damanjodi in Koraput district, 60 percent of the land acquired for the company’s second unit that same year was Common Property Resource, belonging to tribal population. No compensation was paid for it, because community owned resource/land was considered as State’s property. For the little private land they owned, tribal families were paid an average of Rs 6,700 per hectare, a totally inadequate sum to start a new life. Another example is that of Maharashtra Irrigation Project on Krishna River in Satara district, where 75 per cent of households affected belonged to the influential Maratha community, who used political clout to obtain facilities under R&R.

Research studies show that the displaced tribals cope with their loss and changed conditions better than Dalits and other weaker sections as long as they are allowed to continue to live in their traditional habitat, as they have honed skills for the management of their habitat. It is when they are forced to migrate or are resettled outside their territory that they are not able to adjust and operate in an alien territory and new society. The tribal way of life centers on their community. This extends from support in basic agrarian work to solidarity in times of trouble. Any displacement and scattered rehabilitation will destroy this collective welfare system that binds them together.

Deterioration in Quality of life of Tribal DPs/ PAPs after displacement and Resettlement Impact of Losses without Recompense

Researchers such as Fernandes, Parasuraman, Mahapatra, Tripathy, Alex Ekka, Mohammad Asif, Lancy Lobo, Das, Rao to name a few, based on their extensive research and field work, have brought out the stark reality of displacement without provision of alternative land and reconstitution of livelihood, causing
impoverishment of the displaced. Many DPs/PAPs are forced to migrate. For example, the findings of the Ombudsmen appointed by the Supreme Court revealed that, about 30,000 people working for construction of facilities in abject conditions for the Asian Games in New Delhi in 1982, were people who had lost their livelihood due to deforestation by industry or had been displaced by Hirakud dam and other projects.

In the context of Cernea’s eight-fold risks, empirical evidence collected by researchers shows that the DPs/PAPs in India, 40 per cent of whom belonged to tribal communities, experienced landlessness, joblessness, homelessness, marginalization, food insecurity, increased morbidity and mortality, loss of
Common Property Resources and social disarticulation. Apart from land and forest, access to CPRs like wells, ponds and grazing grounds has been diminished by development projects, adversely affecting tribal occupations such as cattle rearing. Further, empirical evidence shows that the reconstruction aspect of the ‘Impoverishment risks and livelihood Model’ of Cernea has been totally neglected, due to absence of a legally mandated provision for alternative land and livelihood and Resettlement and Rehabilitation Framework as well as poor management of R&R. All this led to impoverishment of the displaced.

Indian researchers have also included the risks caused by loss of education and loss of access to public facilities. Empirical evidence points to the existence of resettlement sites without basic facilities such as schools. In fact, migrants lose access to public facilities as they are not recognized in their new place of work. The process of land acquisition and the completion of the project take years. During this period, development works are not taken up in the region, adversely affecting project-affected people.

The following case studies highlight the deterioration in the quality of life of tribal people after displacement and the process of impoverishment.

1. The Heavy Engineering Corporation Ltd. established in Hatia, Ranchi district, Jharkhand, in the early 1960s is an example of the adverse impact of displacement on tribal communities. In addition, excess land was acquired in the name of ‘public purpose’ – a total of 7,748.80 acres, including 6,356 acres of private land was acquired for the purpose of constructing factories, township, railways, dams, etc. but about 2,600 acres of land was not utilised. There was complete displacement of 13 villages and partial displacement of 22 villages. Out of the 3090 families displaced, 2274 families belonged to the Oraon and Munda tribes. According to an evaluation report carried out by the State Government Tribal Research Institute, Ranchi, in 1993, ten to twenty decimals land was given to the displaced for homestead. Some of the displaced were compensated with land, but these were wastelands. As against the assurance by the State Government and the Project Authorities before land acquisition that a job would be given to each displaced family, in actual fact, one job was given to 4-5 families clubbed together. The normal practice of the Government was to pay prevailing market rate, which was calculated as an average of registered sale prices of land of similar quality and location in the preceding three or five years. However, most land transactions are grossly undervalued to evade registration fees. As a result, compensation ranged from Rs. 7360 per acre to Rs.3200 per acre. Most of the displaced, who were not used to handling money, frittered away their cash compensation in a very short time. Before displacement, the displaced families owned land and were engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry activities, which provided them enough food grain and basic necessities. After displacement, they lost their capital resource – land linked to food security. There was no attempt to reconstitute livelihoods. Consequently, displaced families did not have enough food grain to feed themselves through the year. Post displacement, a majority of the families faced unemployment, poverty and distress. The evaluation report concludes by pointing out that, from poor, but selfsufficient and self-respecting members of a community, the displaced families had been reduced to daily wage labourers, moving from place to place in search of work.

2. In a study on mining and displacement problems in Odisha, it has been found that about 8117 families from 1446 villages were displaced, due to development projects in the period 1950-1993. The aftermath of development induced displacement is that landlessness takes the form of downward mobility from large to medium land holders from medium/small to marginal farmers, and from small/marginal farmers to landless. Among mining-displaced families, 16.7 percent of tribal people and 13 percent of Dalit-displaced, became landless against 3.6 percent of the general castes. Another study shows that people displaced by mining lost their land and were forced to become wage labourers in mines, but later due to mechanization, they were the first ones to lose their jobs and become completely impoverished. An evaluation of the condition of tribal oustees of Mahi Bajaj Sagar Project, Rajasthan, twenty years after their displacement (which took place in the 1970s), shows that the quality of facilities in the resettlement colonies were poor, with no proper provision for schooling, which adversely affected the education of children. It was observed that the displaced had limited skills and low levels of literacy and were unable to utilize compensation money properly. Since they were primarily agriculturists, they had very little knowledge of running a business or providing a service and in absence of a rehabilitation plan to address the needs of education and training, the deprived tribal people were unable to find alternative livelihood. The displaced who could not get possession of allotted agricultural land were forced to lead subsistence lives on encroached land with many of them forced to migrate to nearby towns as low skilled labourers after Kharif season.
3. Parasuraman, in his research study on displacement due to Bolani Iron Ore Mines in Keonjhar district of Orissa, describes the pre-displacement situation in the villages of Bolani, Champua and Balagoda as being thinly populated tribal villages. Every household owned land, surviving on cultivating coarse cereals and millets, rearing cows, goats and bullocks and depending on forest for fruits, Mahua trees for liquor and small game for their protein requirements. They were self-sufficient because they had access to alternative sources of production. As in other cases of acquisition, excess land of 1320 hectares was acquired whereas only 500 acres was actually utilized for mining, township etc. Deprived of their resources, the displaced cleared thick forests for cultivation; had they not done this, the tribals ousted would have been in a worse position. All households who lost land to mines were compensated with one job per family. Those who lost land to Public Works or Railways only got cash compensation. Out of the 218 tribal households, 180 were offered employment in mines. But the living and working conditions in the mines was different from the tribal way of life and consequently, over a period of time, many displaced lost the mining jobs to nontribal migrant workers from outside. Moreover, those managing mines did not understand the tribal way of life, their cultural beliefs and customs and made the tribals displaced, feel unwanted. Mining activities led to environmental degradation, deforestation, pollution of river and decrease in soil fertility. Tribal people lost disproportionately, due not only to loss of land but their habitat for which they were not prepared by training and psychological mentoring for the transition from agriculture to mine-related employment. There was no provision for land and the alternative jobs provided did not suit them. The displaced have become strangers in their own land and have nowhere to go, following the destruction of their forest-based habitat and livelihood system.

4. A case study of displacement caused by the Sardar Sarovar dam in Madhya Pradesh focused on problems faced by the Project Affected Families of the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) in Madhya Pradesh, after the dam height was raised to 119 metres by June 2006. Out of a total of 245 villages in the Submergence Zone, 193 villages are in Madhya Pradesh, 33 in Maharashtra and 19 in Gujarat. The study emphasises that India is a signatory to ILO Conventions 107 and 169 on the rights of indigenous and tribal peoples.

Article 16 of ILO 169 states: “Where the relocation of these peoples is considered necessary as an exceptional measure, such relocation shall take place only with their free and informed consent.” Where a return to the traditional lands is not possible in the future, Governments must provide “lands of quality and legal status at least equal to that of the lands previously occupied by them.” However, the finding of the field study was that Gram Sabhas had not been formally consulted before notifications under the LAA, 1894, were issued; few attempts were made to inform the largely illiterate tribal populations about their rights as stated in the NWDT Award; and the option of ‘land for land’ within Madhya Pradesh was never formally communicated to the Gram Sabhas. The survey based on 20 R&R sites indicated that only 344 families were actually living in the R&R sites prepared for them. The survey found almost all the sites
to be “very poor”. The Government apparently bought 1636.9 hectares (4141.4 acres) of mainly black cotton soil for 86 R&R sites, most of which are totally unsuitable for building houses. The study recommended that all the adult sons, unmarried adult daughters, widows, divorcees and abandoned wives be treated as separate PAPs.
The study found that most Gram Sabhas in the 171 villages had held meetings and written letters to the Madhya Pradesh Government, but received no response. Only when writ petitions were filed in the Supreme Court for villages like Picchodi and Jalsindhi, were judgments made in their favour.

5. Another study of R&R in Gujarat of the Narmada Project reveals that the reason for defective R&R programme and policies was because implementation of R&R depends on a bureaucracy who has prejudices and biases against tribal people and lack of understanding of their society. The findings were that there was no consultation with displaced and project affected people, lack of communication, cultural differences were disregarded, faulty land–compensation procedures that did not take into consideration rights of tribal DPs/PAPs and added to this fraud and corruption. The study also found cases of coercion and human rights violations, where people were forced to leave and stay at resettlement locations. False promises were made but once the tribal people shifted, Government officials avoided them and there was absence of a system to address grievances and complaints. The above case studies are examples of R&R which failed to provide alternative land and sustainable livelihood, leading to pauperisation of tribal DPs/PAPs. Further, these are examples of tardy implementation, of unfulfilled promises and violation of laws and rules by the very machinery expected to protect the interest of marginalised displaced such as tribals. The studies also highlight the lack of managerial capacity in the State to implement R&R and incapability to plan imaginative rehabilitation plans. It reflects the lack of commitment on the part of R&R machinery, which did not recognise the fact that rehabilitation is a continuous process and after taking possession of acquired land, they left the tribal DPs/PAPs to fend for themselves.

Loss of status of women after displacement

Women in tribal societies, have a relative equal status on par with their men when compared with neighbouring caste societies. Prior to displacement, women belonging to the project-affected villages were actively participating in household work, such as cooking, child rearing and collecting of Non-Timber Forest Produce (NTFP) and firewood. However, in resettlement colonies, adverse conditions force adult and young women to go out in search of work with a view to earn and support their families, due to loss of permanent income sources of land and forest.

Parasuraman discusses the impact of displacement on the social and economic condition of women by different development projects, where it was found that loss of access to traditional sources of livelihood, land, forest, river, pasture, cattle, etc. marginalizes women in the labour force. It is only when land and other sources are replaced that women at least partially regain their economic status.

Under R&R policies, there is marked gender disparity as women members of the family such as adult unmarried daughters, widows, deserted divorcees have not been considered as a separate family. Women are traumatized due to loss of resources and break up of family and social networks and there is no strategy to address these adverse impacts.

Traditionally, tribal areas had a better sex-ratio than urban areas, but now, there is a decline in the sex ratio of tribal women in areas around development projects and areas facing degradation of CPR forests in Jharkhand. This is disquieting, as it reflects the drop-in status of women in the tribal community.

Deterioration of health

Almost all the R&R colonies lack proper public health facilities, protected drinking water, marketing and transportation. Due to unhygienic conditions, health is a major problem of displaced tribal people, who are affected by various diseases such as malaria, typhoid, viral fevers, diarrhoea, cholera, skin diseases and jaundice. In mining projects, resettlement sites are situated close to mining operations, which result in respiratory diseases. Ill-health causes them to spend most of their earnings towards allopathic medical treatment, due to nonavailability of herbal medicines.

Disregard for Right to Livelihood: Adverse integration

Planning Commission Five Year Plan documents, NFHS and NSSO data clearly reveal that, over the years, there have been poor human development indicators in regions with high concentration of tribal people. As a consequence of poverty, illiteracy and lack of skills, tribal people have not been able to take advantage of employment opportunities created by development projects. The State and the corporate sector have neglected investment in skill/technical training of development-induced-displaced tribal communities. There was no provision or attempt to provide jobs or livelihood opportunities, as emphasis was on monetary compensation. Moreover, research studies also show that, due to neglect of children and youth by not providing them with education and skills, they are worse-off when the head of the family retires as they have lost their land which was passed on from generation to generation. Diverse research studies have revealed lack of basic civic amenities in rehabilitation sites, absence of land or poor quality of land settled, and lack of employment avenues, results in stark decrease in standard of living after displacement and forces the displaced to migrate. Research studies show many have been forced to take up menial jobs and have become drifting agricultural and industrial migrant labourers. The work is commonly poorly paid and insecure and it affects their self- esteem and identity, but they are forced to take up such work for survival.

Development Projects have failed to create employment opportunities for Tribal DPs/PAPs instead it has led to unemployment and forced migration.

Occupational change

An analysis of decadal changes in access to cultivated land among Scheduled Tribes of four States with substantial tribal population, namely Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand, indicates increasing landlessness amongst tribal households. The percentage of marginal holdings
below one hectare has shown a marked increase in all the four States. This indicates that medium-size land holdings are getting fragmented. It is significant that Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh have the highest rate of diversion of forest lands for non-forest purposes, e.g. mining. In Madhya Pradesh (including Chhattisgarh), landlessness has increased by 23.1 percent between 2001 and 2011, and in Jharkhand by 8.2 percent between 2005 and 2011. Even though there is a general all-India increase in the total work participation rate for Scheduled Tribes, it is largely the result of increasing rates of marginal rural and urban work, especially among tribal women. The numbers of tribal cultivators has declined by more than 10 percent in the four states, except Odisha where rate of decline is less than the all India average. The rate of decline of female cultivators in several areas is higher than males, which shows that female headed households are more vulnerable. In the States of Odisha and Jharkhand, there is a sharp rise in male and female rural ‘other workers’ due to mining and construction work in rural areas. Thus, the occupational status of Scheduled Tribes is now changing from farmer to rural and urban worker. This calls for a comprehensive strategy encompassing the following: restoring tribal land, preventing land alienation, giving priority to Scheduled Tribes in settlement of ceiling surplus and wasteland, support to small and marginal tribal farmers for taking up high-value horticulture etc., and skill development to reap the benefits of growth in labour-intensive manufacturing sector.

Impoverishment of Tribal DPs/PAPs adds to problem of alleviating poverty The loss of land and CPR resources without adequate recompense has led to pauperization of tribal DPs/PAPs, adding to the problem of poverty in the country. The poverty ratios for Scheduled Tribes are significantly higher as
compared to general population in the year 1999-2000. As against 27 per cent of all population living below the poverty line in the rural areas, 45.86 per cent of Scheduled Tribe population lived below the poverty line. There are large variations in the proportion of ST population living below the poverty line across the States. The Twelfth Plan Document Volume III (‘Social Inclusion’, pg.229) states that, during the period, 1993-94 to 2004-05, the share of ST among the poor in the country increased from 15.83 to 20.49 per cent. It is ironic that ‘development’ projects have added to the problem of unemployment and poverty in tribal regions.

Decline in Percentage of Tribal Population: Loss of identity

Development projects, which have displaced tribal people, have opened up tribal areas, leading to influx of people from outside the tribal region seeking employment in industry, mines, transport, Government service, trade and commerce, etc. This has resulted in increasing urbanization of tribal areas and the
large influx of immigrants from outside gathered the benefits from development, while on the other hand, the condition of tribal people became worse. Consequently, the percentage of tribal population in these areas declined. For example, in Bihar, the percentage of tribal population declined from10.7 percent
in 1951 to 7.66 percent in 1981. In Dhanbad district, the decline was from 15.65 percent in 1951 to 9.12 percent in 1981; similarly, in Santhal Pargana, the decline was from 44.6 percent to 36.80 percent during the same period.209 This trend continues in Jharkhand in recent decades, as observed in Ranchi district (falling from 43.56 percent in 1991 to 35.76 percent in 2011). Decrease in proportion of tribal population is evident in urbanized areas as well as rural districts, where involuntary displacement and forced migration have occurred and where urbanization and development has led to inflow of outsiders. Tribal people find themselves placed in a subordinate position to outsiders in their own homeland and have developed a negative identity. Tribal society is egalitarian, but they now have to deal with a hierarchical and exploitative society. Tribal people faced with influx of immigrants, fear loss of identity, land, destruction of forests, jobs and losing political control.

Recommendations

1. Serious effort is required by the State to minimize displacement. There should be a right- based approach to comprehensive rehabilitation for socio- economic reconstitution of victims of development, including for the backlog of displaced.

2. The problem is with the expansive interpretation that has been given to the doctrine of ‘eminent domain’ by political and managerial elites. In this context, it is essential that the whole process of displacement should be democratic and rights of tribal communities to say ‘no’ to acquisition of their land and to access and manage forests and other CPRs, be recognised.

3. The new legislation, ‘The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, is progressive in the sense that it is the first to legally mandate rehabilitation of PAPs. However, it fails to address the need for minimizing of acquisition of land and resources. This is not surprising, since the objective of the Act, which seeks to address concerns of those whose livelihoods are affected, simultaneously aims at facilitating land acquisition for industrialization and urbanization. This is in keeping with the broader liberalization policies. Such policies will result in more displacement in Central India for mining and in the Northeast for dams.

• a) The 2013 Act already has a provision for safeguarding food security and states that multi-crop irrigated land will not be acquired, except as a last resort measure. Further, the State Government is to set limits on the acquisition of such land under this law. States are also required to set a limit on the area of agricultural land that can be acquired in any given district. However, there is no mention of the need to protect tribal land and community resources. Hence, a suitable provision is required to be incorporated in the Act, to safeguard tribal land and community resources in Scheduled Areas and disallow acquisition by a non-tribal, including private companies.
• b) The definition of ‘public purpose’ in the new law is very wide and will only lead to greater acquisition and displacement in Scheduled Areas. The exercise of ‘eminent domain’ and definition of ‘public purpose’ should be severely limited.
• c) Government agencies acquiring land with the ultimate purpose to transfer it to private companies for stated public purpose, should be kept outside the ambit of the new law, as the Public-Private Partnership mode of acquiring land is simply a backdoor method of alienating land in violation of the Constitutional provision to prohibit or restrict transfer of tribal land to non-tribals in Scheduled Areas.
• d) It is recommended that, as directed in the landmark Samatha judgment and the PESA Act, every Gram Sabha should have the power to prevent alienation of tribal land and further that minerals should be exploited by tribal people themselves. The stringent provisions of the amended Andhra Pradesh Scheduled Areas Land Transfer Regulation, 1959, should be adopted by other States, particularly the provision that facilitates the formation of Registered Scheduled Tribe Co-operative Societies, which could take up mining activities in Scheduled Areas. By doing so, the Samatha Judgment would hold good for all States with Scheduled Areas. It should be the responsibility of the State to facilitate the formation of cooperatives of tribal people for the above purpose.
• e) Gram Sabha consent should be mandatory for acquisition of land by the Government for its own use as well.
• f)The Act does not have a provision to the effect that exploitation of natural resources in Scheduled Areas must be with the consent of the Gram Sabha.
• This should be rectified.

4. In the interest of weaker sections such as tribal communities, the threshold should be kept very low and R&R provisions of the new law should apply to all cases.

5. There is plenty of unutilized tribal land available with Central/State/PSUs, and Central/State Governments which is not being used for the purpose for which it was acquired. Governments should be legally mandated to return such land to the original landowner/successors or use the same for resettlement of displaced tribals. This should not be left to the discretion of the State Government. One example of this is of HEC, Hatia, Ranchi, where excess tribal land had been acquired and people are agitating for the return of the land, but the State wishes to utilize it for other purposes. In such cases, land should be returned to the original displaced families.

The Vijay Kelkar Committee on Fiscal Consolidation (2012) said, “Over the next 24-36 months, there is yet another policy instrument for raising resources for development and that is monetizing the government’s unutilized and under-utilized land resources. These resources can finance infrastructure needs, particularly in urban areas. Such a policy has been effectively utilized in many countries including USA, France, Canada, Australia and China. For monetizing land resources, the potential is considerable given the under-utilized prime lands of PSUs, Port Trusts, Railways, etc. Toward this, we recommend setting up of a
group to work out the policy framework and institutional modalities.” The suggestion of the Vijay Kelkar Committee on Fiscal Consolidation (2012) that “unutilized and under-utilized land resources” be used for “raising resources” to “finance infrastructure needs particularly in urban areas” is against the purpose and intent of the land acquisition law and should be roundly rejected, and unused land should be returned to the loser of the land and to the community.

6. There has been inadequate recognition at the policy level that land represents an inalienable resource, passed on from generation to generation in tribal communities, who otherwise have no education and skill development. Studies have documented that those DPs who got jobs in lieu of land and whose children did not receive education or training were worse off after the job-holder retired from service. It is recommended that the objective of R&R should be to ensure that the socio-economic status of tribal DPs/PAPs after displacement, should improve positively rather than deteriorate further. Loss of land and CPR can be compensated only by proper R&R which envisages restoration of livelihoods, health and education facilities and skill development for the whole family and community of tribal DPs/PAPs. There should be provision of ‘land for land’, in acquisition of tribal lands. Compensatory land provided must be made cultivable with irrigation and agricultural inputs. Rehabilitation should be treated as a continuous process to be monitored by the Project Authority and State until the alternative livelihood becomes economically viable. They must be given a stake in the assets and economic activities being created on their acquired land and CPRs (for example, land in command area, irrigation of tribal land in the vicinity, jobs in industries, or shops/jobs in industrial projects/townships). An expanding economy, particularly expanding labour-intensive manufacturing sector together with adequate emphasis on health, education and skill development, hold the key to humane R&R.

7. The 2013 Act is weak in matters relating to skill development and provision for livelihood for DPs/PAPs. During a meeting between the HLC and representatives of displaced tribal people in Bastar, Chhattisgarh, anger was expressed at the non-fulfillment of promises to give jobs to the educated displaced
persons. They were unhappy with the cash allowance being given in lieu of jobs. The official response, that there were not enough jobs to accommodate all displaced people, did not satisfy the aggrieved parties. A sum of two thousand rupees per month per family as annuity for 20 years, with appropriate index for inflation in lieu of jobs, as stipulated in the new Act, is too low. Clearly, more has to be done for skill development and creation of alternative livelihoods. One of the ways to ensure that jobs are provided to displaced people, including tribal families, is to create a State level/National-level Virtual Employment Exchange with complete data of age, sex, educational qualifications, and skill-set of persons displaced in the past, present and in near future, for providing them employment and/or preparing them for employment/self-employment. Global best practices could be studied for providing alternative livelihoods, which could include imaginative self-employment schemes with backward and forward linkages to be provided by Project Authorities.

8. Research studies stress that gross undervaluation of losses, replacement value of loss and costs of resettlement, has led to inadequate financing of R&R and externalization of costs of R&R to the displaced and the future generations. The new law has expanded the definition of ‘displaced’ to include project-affected persons; however, care has to be taken to ensure that all genuine cases are included and compensation is properly computed.

• a) In computing losses, it has to be recognized that there are instances of tribal DPs who do not have documents to support their genuine claim but who base their ownership rights on oral tradition. Such claims should not be rejected.
• b) Forest rights have been covered under the Forest Rights Act, but other CPRs such as Government land and Panchayat land has not been covered by any legislation. This needs to be rectified. Moreover, survey by Government is incomplete – as a consequence, community land is recorded as Government land and tribal communities, primarily tribes who practice shifting cultivation on such land, are denied compensation. This problem needs to be addressed by measures to include such cases under R&R provision.
• c) Women require special consideration and affirmative action. Widows and unmarried adult daughters should be recognized as a separate unit.
• d) The principle for working out land compensation has been spelt out. For all other assets, compensation should be based on replacement value or net present value of assets lost/destroyed.
• e) While preparing the project cost estimates, the full cost for R&R should be included, and no attempt should be made to reduce costs for a favourable cost-benefit ratio.
• f)The rehabilitation package and process should take into account, the cultural displacement, and loss of customs and tradition. For tribal people, their strength is their community, and therefore, it is imperative that they be resettled and rehabilitated as a community, if they so desire.
• g) Infrastructural amenities to be provided in the resettlement area have been mentioned in the new law, but provision of banking facilities has been missed out. With primary emphasis on monetary compensation, it is essential that displaced tribals, who may not have experience in handling money and understanding of the monetary economy, should be advised on handling their cash compensation. Banking facilities should made available for keeping their money safe and credit facilities should be provided by the State (to avoid exploitation by money-lenders).

9. Land and water sources polluted by industrial and mining projects in tribal regions require attention and the onus for taking corrective measures should be on the Project Authorities. The schemes of the Government could be utilized to treat polluted land and water resources of tribal people.

10. The role of the Governor is crucial for protecting land, community assets, culture and traditional institutions of tribal people and to ensure that they are treated fairly. This role extends to ensuring socio-economic reconstitution of tribal DPs/PAPs. This raises the issue of suitability of persons who occupy the
important position of Governor and other offices, such as Commissioners, Deputy Commissioners and District Magistrates, in Scheduled Areas. It is imperative that the antecedents and experience of persons be taken into consideration by the Government to check whether they can protect the interest of tribal communities and are suitable for such appointments, in view of the special role assigned to them in such States.

11. Implementation of the new law will be difficult in the absence of resettlement and rehabilitation capacities in the local administration, local community and corporate entities. It is essential that the State and corporate sector create such capacity by introducing professional training and orientation courses for
following the best R&R practices worldwide and replicating them in the Indian situation. Offering tribal people monetary compensation and making promises without attendant capacity to deliver on them will not resolve the impasse that has brought land acquisition to a standstill. Sporadic attempts by instruments of the State to use force to acquire land is unethical and unacceptable. Only a genuine and bonafide effort at comprehensive and pragmatic R&R can persuade tribal people to part with their land.

12. The new legislation lays considerable emphasis on consultation and consent of Gram Sabhas. It is essential that the State be vigilant through adequate monitoring mechanisms for ensuring that consent is obtained freely and every displaced person gets adequate and comprehensive R&R in lieu of land/livelihoods lost. The State must put in place a system to collect disaggregated data of DPs/PAPs for all social groups. Oversight mechanisms must be created at the District, State and Central levels, comprising officials and non-officials with proven competence, integrity and commitment to public good.
There is a view that, though the new legislation has been enacted by the Centre, R&R is a State subject, which should continue. However, the Centre has a responsibility along with the states to ensure comprehensive R&R. The Central Government should decide on the monitoring mechanism to be put in place. One possibility is to establish an Authority/nodal agency with a multidisciplinary team under the Ministry of Land Resources.

13. In view of the large-scale discontent among displaced tribal people regarding poor R&R, a High-Level Fact-finding Committee/Enquiry Committee should be set up to investigate the quality of R&R in all medium and major development projects undertaken in the last fifty years in Scheduled Areas and tribal dominated districts of States without Scheduled Areas. This Committee should be mandated to suggest ways and means to deliver justice to the displaced families, who have not received any proper rehabilitation. This is essential, in view of the fact that, the new law has not taken cognizance of the backlog of displaced people, a majority of whom are tribal people.

14. Myriad grassroot movements against exploitation of tribal people and other weaker sections hold the key to greater socio-economic justice. It would be desirable if the State recognizes this and engages with democratic grassroot movements, instead of crushing these movements.

15. Tribal people who have been displaced by conflict in Chhattisgarh and the Northeast should be rehabilitated by the State Government in their villages and provided facilities of housing, safe drinking water, health and education, skill development, electricity supply, irrigation facilities, and agricultural inputs. It is for the State to take preventive action and ensure safety and prevent tribal land alienation in such areas. During a visit of HLC to Assam, civil society groups and representatives of Autonomous Tribal Councils emphasized that influx of outsiders was a real threat to the tribal communities. They also alleged that intertribal conflict was being instigated by outsiders. It is the responsibility of the State Government to take measures to prevent such conflicts.

16. Under the ‘Coal Bearing Areas (Acquisition and Development) Act, 1957, pattas/legal titles for houses allotted in resettlement sites are not issued to the displaced. As a result, the displaced lose their identity and are unable to access public facilities provided by the local administration, thereby facing difficulty in
obtaining Caste/Tribe certificates. Further, there is no provision for payment of compensation before taking possession of land. The provision for returning land to original landholders post-mining is rarely complied with. Clearly, there is a need to make amendments in the Act.

17. Development projects have opened up tribal areas leading to influx of people from outside the tribal region, seeking employment in various sectors. All this has resulted in increasing urbanization of tribal areas and immigrants, rather than tribals, have benefited from this. Consequently, the percentage of tribal
population in some Scheduled Areas has declined, although historically, these areas were almost exclusively occupied by tribal people. Hence, it is recommended that there should be no reduction in the areas declared to be Scheduled Areas as this will harm the interests of already deprived tribal communities by diminishing their space and their resources. Rather, the representation of tribal communities should be enhanced and strengthened in the politico-administrative institutions within Scheduled Areas.

18. Tribal people suffer predominantly from the phenomenon of poverty-induced migration, also known as forced migration. An analysis of the Census data shows that there has been an occupational change and the number of tribal cultivators has reduced while the number of tribal marginal workers has increased. Micro studies indicate the increase in seasonal/circulatory migration of tribal workers, which may help them to avoid starvation, but is not enough to improve their standard of living. Hence, it is recommended that:

• a) The Census and National Sample Surveys should gather data on the phenomena of seasonal/circulatory migration, migration of children across social groups and poverty-induced migration.
• b) Priority should be given to STs in settlement of ceiling surplus land and wasteland, investments to improve agriculture, support for high value horticulture, employment opportunities in rural areas, access to credit facilities and skill-development to rural youth for employment in labour-intensive manufacturing sector.
• c) Complaints have been received that, due to seasonal migration of tribal people, they are not enumerated in the Census and therefore, Census data is not a true reflection of tribal population. This grievance requires to be redressed.
• d) Apathy and incapacity of the State to implement the Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979, has led to exploitation of tribal migrant families. In particular, tribal women and children suffer greatly. There is a growing demand for enactment of a comprehensive Migrants Rights Legislation, which deserves serious consideration.

19. Recommendations for measures to prevent illegal land alienation of tribal land are as follows:

• a. In pursuance of the PESA, 1996, Land Transfer Regulations/Tenancy laws of all Schedule V Areas should be suitably amended to ensure Gram Sabha participation in the identification, investigation and restoration of lands to tribal people. Gram Sabhas require to be strengthened by State Governments to undertake these responsibilities.
• b. Plenary powers could be given to Gram Sabhas to fight cases of tribal land alienation collectively, as an individual tribal cannot afford to face prolonged legal battles, given their socio-economic conditions.
• c. The Gram Sabha should be empowered to restore the alienated land on detection, pending the long legal battle, in order to potentially discourage a prospective non-tribal buyer of land in Scheduled Areas. This needs to be legally examined.
• d. Care has to be taken to ensure that District Councils and State-level Council do not have powers to dissolve Gram Sabhas or to dilute the powers and functions of the Gram Sabha
• e. Legal loopholes and ambiguities in all Scheduled Area Land Regulations and Tenancy laws should be removed. For example, such a removal must ensure that tribal land is not transferred for purposes such as settlement of refugees, housing, etc.
• f. There is a provision in the Andhra Pradesh Act, wherein immovable property of tribals can be mortgaged to banks and, in case of default, the property to be sold back only to tribal people or tribal cooperative societies exclusively formed by tribal people. This provision needs to be evaluated to explore replication in other Scheduled Area States. There is an urgency in doing so to meet the financial needs of tribal youth.
• g. There is a presumption clause in the Andhra Pradesh Act that, until the contrary is proved, any immovable property in the Scheduled Areas and in possession of a person who is not a member of a Scheduled Tribe shall be presumed to have been acquired by the person or his predecessors through a transfer made to him by a member of a Scheduled Tribe. This clause should be examined by other States for adoption and inclusion in their laws.
• h. Suitable amendments should be made in all land laws for protection of tribal land in Scheduled Area States to the effect that there should not be any time limit for restoring tribal land.
• i. Suitable provision should be made in land laws so as to bring all benami transfers, transfers in the names of concubines, tribal servants or others into the purview to prevent fraudulent land transfer in Scheduled Areas.
• j. The move to notify rural areas as urban areas in order to nullify PESA provisions should be stopped forthwith. Use of Master Plan in urban areas alienate/displace tribal people from their land should be curbed.
• k. Increased investment is required to be made by State Governments to provide legal aid to tribal petitioners so that they are in a position to hire competent lawyers to fight cases. The Government must also provide legal training, literacy and awareness programs for youth and women on State and customary laws contextualized with modernity processes, with the participation of NGOs.
• l. Ultimately, it is the duty of State Governments, to ensure that all officials and lower-level functionaries do not connive in defrauding tribal people of their land. Regular monitoring at the State and Central levels of disposal of cases and proactive efforts for restoration of tribal land is required. It is the responsibility of the State to address the problem of contradictory judicial pronouncements that jeopardize implementation of protective land laws by removing ambiguities in all relevant laws