Orissa's highland clearances: The reality gap in R & R

Abstract

There is clearly an institutionalized attitude of neglect towards the displaced people. For example, no record of the number of people displaced is maintained. Such attitudes prevent the bureaucratic mindset from understanding the enormity of what is involved when tribal people, stripped of their land, are forcibly dumped to unlivable places euphemistically called resettlement colonies. Often it is this lack of understanding that gives rise to strong resistance to projects. In addition, the disjunction between policy and practice is almost total. The aim of all resettlement policies is developmental, to see that the living standards of affected people improve, but this seldom happens. Most often, impoverishment is the lot of those forced to relocate. The respect for human rights of tribal people requires that stringent steps be taken to avoid displacement, that no further displacement takes place until those previously displaced are properly resettled, that the process of consultation be real, not a ritual, and that only those officials be put in charge of resettlement who are properly trained and have an understanding of tribal life and culture.