On the Future of Indigenous Traditions - Munin

CSEMP which covered 25 projects in three
different states, one of the states being
Jharkhand
Full phase of the Parej East project as one of
CSEMP in Hazaribag in Jharkhand.
Here it is the Central Coalfields Ltd. (CCL) the
subsidiary of CIL that operates this project
Total land acquired in these 25 projects: 1827 ha Land Acquired for Parej East project: 237 ha
Total number of persons affected by the project : In Parej East the total number of people affected:
17632
1172
Total number of Tribal persons affected are: 4619 In Parej East they are : 487*
Total population of these area are : 185811 In Parej East the total population is: 2913
* These figures are misleading because the project actually affects communities in 11 villages and from
this figures one is made to believe that the number of Adivasis is very small. The figures can be
distorted; however the project fails to show that the damage is not just contained in Parej East alone.
Peraj village is one of the 11 villages and their lands are covered in this project. It had intensified the
problem further which is talked about in the study done by CASS.
I would like to state an example, from my two and a half years involvement with the
project affected people during the first phase of the project. This was in direct
confrontation with the project authorities; one can very clearly see how it is when
Adivasis lose control over their land and livelihood resources. I would like to quote a
small portion from my field notes used in this study: 72
It is 5 years since the 9 Turi families have been displaced. Recently, Rameshwer and
Bisheshwer went to the Project Officer (PO) Mr Gopal Singh of East Parej at his residence
which is just adjacent to theirs, to share their grievances. The PO got annoyed with them and
shouted at them saying “I don’t know who you are!” The PO also got angry with his driver for
allowing such people to meet him. But when Rameshwer wasn’t displaced and he was on his
land, then the CCL went pleading to them for land. There was Mr MP Mishra another General
Manager in 1996 who told us, “today, at least we are talking to them”. 73
After the land is taken from the Adivasis for the project they have to comply to the
rules of the government in all levels:
The Government’s attitude has also been pro-company. Take the example of authentication of
land paper/land titles. Once the land is given on lease, the government refuses to authenticate
land. If a man whose name is on the land paper has died, his heir has to get a succession
certificate which is a lengthy court process. On the other hand, in the case of Borwa tola
which did not shift or want rehabilitation, the company got the local administration to bring
the police and evict the people, and the reason the Deputy Commissioner gave was that World
72 Bineet Mundu, “India: Breaking the Trust” Case Study on Indigenous Peoples, Extractive Industries
and the World Bank – Presented at the Workshop in Exeter College in the University of Oxford – UK,
held on the 14 th - 15 th April 2003.
http://www.forestpeoples.org/documents/prv_sector/eir/eir_internat_wshop_india_case_eng_apr03.pdf
73 Ibid. 8
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