SOIL Report 2008 - ACCESS Development Services

The People: Their Livelihoods and Critical Challengeseconomic activities promoted by the government and the massive rural employment guarantee schemelaunched under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) in 2005 has had some impacton reducing distress migration across the country. A national daily carried a report some time back sayingthat the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP) has held back many agriculturallabourers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh from migrating to Punjab and Haryana, thereby creating a crisisfor the farmers in those states. 15There are quite a number of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), trade unions, community-basedorganisations (CBOs) and sometimes gram panchayats working for the welfare and development ofmigrant workers. However, in the absence of a focused policy and institutional arrangement, it is becominga huge challenge to cater to the millions of migrant workers across the country.6. What appears as a paradox though is ‘development-induced’displacementBox 2.5: Defining Development-Induced Displacement“Development induced displacement is the forcing of communities and individuals out of theirhomes, often also their homelands, for the ostensible purpose of social and human development,but which is actually nothing more than ‘economic development’ and the benefits accruingfrom such almost never if ever percolate down to the ones that bear its costs. It is a subsetof forced migration.”Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Development-induced_displacementThe need to build infrastructure for large and heavy industries, mining , irrigation, power generation,transportation highways and railways, airports and services like hospitals, schools and universities isindisputable in the context of the development of the nation. However, while these development projectsostensibly serve to improve people’s lives, they also serve to displace another section of the populationfrom their lands, livelihoods, individual and community resources. 16 (See Box 2.5 for a working definitionof development induced displacement). Most of the projects are government-sponsored except for someby corporate bodies. Though the principle of “greater good for the larger numbers” is used to rationalisethe involuntary displacement of indigenous people, it raises an ethical issue on the fundamental rightsof displaced people. There has been no end to such issues even today. The Narmada Bachao Andolan,Nandigram, Singur, Kalinga Nagar and Niyamgri all stand testimony to this paradox.As per the estimation of the World Bank, in the last five decades, around 25 million people in India havebeen displaced by development projects. One statement by N C Saxena, former secretary, Ministry of RuralDevelopment, Government of India, however, puts the total number of persons displaced due to largedams at 40 million 17 . Similarly, a study by the World Commission on Dams says “impoverishment anddisempowerment have been the rule rather than the exception with respect to resettled people around theworld.” It provides further evidence that the vast majority of the displaced are the indigenous and tribalpopulations who are hit by loss of livelihoods, assets, debt-bondage, hunger and cultural disintegration,the worst affected being women and children. 18 Also see Table 2.5.The vastmajority of thedisplaced arethe indigenousand tribalpopulations whoare hit by lossof livelihoods,assets, debtbondage,hungerand culturaldis-integration,the worstaffected beingwomen andchildren15Bhatia,RK (2008) Migrant labourers trigger labour pains in Punjab, The Times of India, Bhubaneswar, June 2016Cernea, Michael,(2000) Risks, Safeguards and Reconstruction, in Michael Cernea and Christopher McDowell,eds Risks and Reconstruction:Experiences of Resettlers and Refugees, World Bank, Washington DC).17Roy Arundhati, (1999) The Greater Common Good, India Book Distributors, Delhi18World Commission on Dams (2000) Dams and Development: A New Framework for Decision-Making. London and Sterling, Virginia:Earthscan).51