Because of its rich natural resources and the new investor friendly development policies, Orissa in recent years has become an attractive investment destination for large corporations, but the increased level of development activity has only led to displacement on a scale much larger than before.
In the era of liberalization and privatization, a sizeable number of mineral processing industries are coming to invest in the mineral rich state of Orissa. As a result, there is large involuntary population displacement of the marginalized sections including tribal.
On 2 January 2006, the police in Kalinganagar, Orissa opened fire against a group of tribal people protesting against Tatas constructing a steel plant on their lands and not paying them adequate compensation. This tragedy killing 12 persons on the spot shocked the whole nation.
The Orissa Resettlement and Rehabilitation Policy, 2006 draws its strength from experiences from the implementation of past policies, best practices in other states and the Orissa government's Industrial Policy Resolution, 2001.
In the recent past, two major policy interventions have been made to resettle and rehabilitate persons displaced as a result of acquisition of land for development projects. While the government of Orissa brought out its policy in 2006, the Central Government notified a new policy in 2007.
Development projects that involve displacement are currently a cause of growing concern everywhere. The worrisome aspect is that it is the poor who are hurt most in the process, becoming poorer than before.
Displacement of the people from their habitation, in order to acquire land for development projects, is a major cause of concern today. The displaced persons face several difficulties in adjusting their lives to a completely new environment. The paper deals with the rehabilitation and resettlement of the displaced persons due to a hydro-electric project in Orissa.
The Lower Suktel Irrigation Project, which commenced in late 1990s, aims to provide irrigation and potable water to the drought prone district Bolangir. It will fully submerge 16 villages and 10 villages partially, affecting 4160 families including 1222 families belonging to the scheduled tribes.
India's rural socio-cultural scenario was at the crossroads in the 1960s with the introduction of the new agricultural revolution, popularly known as the Green Revolution. The present paper is a modest attempt in revaluating empirically the bearing of this technological revolution on the socio-cultural scenario, and particularly on the agro-based rural institutions in Orissa.
Peasants across India are opposing development projects which displaced them from their land, habitat, livelihood and environment. They are questioning the paradign of development itself which is so heavily loaded against them. The law on land acquisition is central to the understanding of this hostility to development.
