om e 's Ali a - Land ss De elo en - Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, India Office

124
Women’s Alienation
This is a question that should have
been asked by the states before
signing MoUs with the investors.
The present scenario appears pretty
messy.
However, in case a business
house starts setting up its
industry, fulfilment of a ‘popularly
evolved public demands vis-à-vis
displacement’ should be ensured.
Women should necessarily form
part of any rehabilitation and
resettlement policy that the states
try to evolve.
Industrialisation and mining cannot
be at the cost of environment. In the
last decade, it has been witnessed
that environment has deteriorated
considerably due to heavy mining
and industries, due to which extreme
heat during summer or extreme cold
during winter is being witnessed.
Proper and timely monsoon has
taken a beating due to environment
change, which is affecting the
agrarian community.
The most important thing – the
states are losing the ‘top soil’ of the
region due to heavy mining. The
coal companies and other mining
companies in their greed think that
coal, gold, aluminum; copper, etc.
are more valuable as compared to
the ‘top soil’. Though mining rules
remind them about the value of the
‘top soil’ by making it a rule to fill
the mines with ‘soil’ after excavation
of minerals, this is hardly being
kept. As a consequence, the dug
up land remains ‘plundered’ forever
and it could not be further used for
any purpose, including agriculture.
The top soil is that portion of the
earth’s surface that produces food
for the sustenance of human beings.
We can live without gold, without
aluminum, without copper or such,
but not without top soil. It appears
from the way mining in the states is
progressing that they are preparing
themselves to exist without top
soil. This disaster will unfold in the
coming decades.
In the context of gender positioning,
the aggressive growth model being
pursued in these states by the
corporate giants has multiplied the
exploitation and degradation of
women’s rights with regard to land
and livelihood. The worst sufferers
are the tribal women because it is
their habit that is currently being
targeted for mining. It is significant
to note that the central as well as