The Effect of Development-induced Displacement on Adivasis: Evidence from the Rourkela Steel Plant Project in India

Abstract

This paper analyses the long-term impact of displacement by assessing the impoverishment risks among the displaced adivasi population of Rourkela resettled in peri-urban and rural resettlement colonies. The study ascertains that even after six decades of displacement, adivasis in both resettlement colonies continue to face such risks, however, to a different degree according to where they were resettled. Joblessness has been a common risk among them, and it seems central to all other risks. Moreover, the persistence of these impoverishment risks among them is attributed to the violation of constitutional provisions and unfulfilled promises during and post-displacement period.