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CHAPTER TWO

THEORITICAL BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE ON

DEVELOPMENT-INDUCED DISPLACEMENT AND

SOCIAL DISARTICULATION

Development paradigms in social and economic sectors have always been

stressful and needs human efforts relentlessly to fill the cavity created by

development projects. Development projects have always been visualized as

means of multi-sector advancement of society though creates repercussions

unwarranted. Social engineers and social scientists tried their best to

conceptualize development paradigms in each ones concerned arenas. Social

scientists have been stressing the breakages of social capital of displaced

community as part of development projects. Various authors tried to

conceptualize the process by developing various models to identify steps

involved in the same. In the first part of this chapter, the researcher presents

various models developed by social scientists, especially the Impoverishment

Risk and Reconstruction model of Michael M. Cernea. In the second part,

attempt was made to sketch literature related with Development-Induced

Displacement and Social Disarticulation

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PART - I

2.1 Impoverishment Risk and Reconstruction (IRR) Model and

India - Theoretical Background

Creating an economically viable, socially satisfying, and environmentally

sustainable settlement from scratch is a complex endeavour and one of the

most difficult of all development interventions. Both voluntary and

involuntary resettlement provides opportunities for social scientist to study the

by-passed socio-economic or social capital of the community. Most of the

planners tend to over emphasize more on short term benefits to the settlers than

long term benefits. “Displacements are frequent enough, big enough, complex

and consequential enough to merit the full mobilization of conceptual,

analytical and operational tools available to address it” (Cernea, 1996, p.167).

Involuntary mobility or displacement is a result of push factors alone. Forced

migration is marked by a disruption of diverse risk-sharing and social insurance

mechanisms. Therefore, displacement is often seen as process of expropriation

of land and other assets in order to allow a project to proceed ostensibly for the

overall social good (Oliver, 1996). Post-Independent India has conclusively

demonstrated the irreversible, catastrophic and disruptive implications of such

large-scale displacement. “There is no adequate data of displaced people; dams

are the single largest cause for displacement. Out of the total displacees 7.50

per cent were tribal, women and children, and the aged who were more

adversely affected. Projects were not planned on the basis of a comprehensive

cost-benefits analysis. Thus displacement kick starts a process that generates

14

spirals of impoverishment” (Mishra D. K., 2003, p.167). It is in this context

that we look at various theories developed in history.

2.1.1 History of the Theories

By the late 1960s, Chambers (1969) identified three stages - general model - in

the evolution of land settlement schemes in Africa. Soon after, Nelson

confirmed this pattern in a synthesis of many experiences with new land

settlement in Latin America (Colson, 1999 & Cernea, 2000a). Both models-

Chambers’ and Nelson’s– generalized the experiences of voluntary settlers and

conceptualized the institutional or organizational dimensions of managed land

settlement programmes. Later in 1982 Scudder and Colson (1982) formulated a

theoretical model of settlement processes which distinguished four stages.

They proposed a four-stage model of how people and socio-cultural systems

respond to resettlement. This diachronic model identifies the four stages of a

successful resettlement - recruitment, transition, potential development, and

handing over or incorporation - with each stage tracking resettles’ behavioural

response patterns to the disruptions and stress caused by relocation.

The recruitment phase consists of planning, initial infrastructural development

and settler recruitment. Policy-makers and/or developers formulate

development and resettlement plans, often without consulting or informing

those to be displaced. In the planning phase, consideration is also given to the

extent to which the hosts will be included in the settlement project on social

equity, economic and political ground. During the design stage, it should be

15

decided whether an elementary site and services approach or more ambitious

approach will be taken. In recruitment importance is given to criteria related to

individual and not family.

During transition, people learn about their future displacement, which

heightens the level of stress experienced. Potential development occurs after

physical relocation has occurred. Displacees begin the process of rebuilding

their economy and social networks. Most of those resettled are conservative

and priority is given to subsistence needs. They prefer new settlement in

proximity with relatives, former neighbours, and co-ethnics. The project

performance can be improved only through the shortening of the transition

period.

Potential Development - Economic and Social Development: In contrast to

second stage where people are risk averse, in the third stage people are ready to

take risks, which is crucial to development. Settlement agencies take active

involvement to provide training and institution building programmes and

managerial responsibilities. During stage three, careful monitoring and

intervention can help to identify and offset difficulties.

Handing over or incorporation: It refers to the handing over of local production

systems and community leadership to a second generation of residents that

identifies with and feels at home in the community. Once this stage has been

achieved, resettlement is deemed a success (Cernea, 2000a).

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The Scudder–Colson model focused on the different behavioural tendencies

common to each of a series of stages through which resettlers passed. At first,

the model was formulated to explain the stages of voluntary settlement, and

only later applied to some cases of involuntary resettlement i.e., those

"successful" cases that passed through all four stages (Cernea, 2000b). The

model is not intended to apply to resettlement operations that fail and do not

complete the last two stages. In the 1980s and 1990s, the mounting evidence of

involuntary resettlement schemes that failed to pass through all four stages

suggested that a new model/theory was necessary to explain the consequences

of involuntary relocation.

2.1.1.1 The Impoverishment and Reconstruction Model of Cernea

Impoverishment Risk and Reconstruction is synchronic model capturing

simultaneous processes of destitution and recovery. The core concepts of the

theory are Risk, Impoverishment and Reconstruction, three variables providing

three dimensions of the process. These three variables have inner linkage to

assess the nature of displacement, different problems faced and socio-economic

remedies to reconstruct the resettled community. Theory puts forward two risks

to the society i.e., potential and actual risks. We use the sociological concept of

risk to indicate the possibility that a certain course of action will trigger future

injurious effects-losses and destruction (Gidens, 1990). The concept of risk is

posited as a counter-concept to security (Luhman, 1993, Dwivedi & Moles,

2002). The higher the risks, the lower will be the security of the displaced

populations. Risks are often directly perceptible, and also measurable through

17

science (Adams, 1998, Cook, 1991), as they are objective reality. The cultural

construction of a risk, be it a social risk or a natural risk, could emphasize or

de-emphasize (belittle) its seriousness and could also ignore it, but this doesn't

change the objective existence of risks (Stalling, 1995, Soltau & Brockington,

2004). The risk involved may be not only economic but social risks which

bring changes in behaviour of the people after the implementation of the

project e.g., changes in the consumption pattern, in employment preference,

etc. The risks faced by the displacees are varied according to the situations.

There is an interconnectedness and pattern in the expression of risks. Risks

vary depending upon circumstances, sectors and seasons. The intensity may

vary among persons, times, groups and culture. There will be predominance of

certain risks in all displaced communities. Affected people must deal with

these risks virtually simultaneously, as patterned situations, not just one at a

time. Forced displacement intrinsically contains a risk pattern though the

vulnerability differs in groups and communities (Cernea 1999c).

The typology of Relocation Risks consists of two modes:

1. Loud displacement risks: Natural calamities (earthquakes, cyclones, floods),

Man made catastrophes (war, racial/ethnic atrocities), Epidemics (HIV/AIDS

population shift)

2. Silent displacement risks from: Policy measures (land tenure reform and its

implementation), Environmental enclosures (wild life parks, biodiversity

protection), Investment projects (Mining, reservoirs, thermal power, industrial

18

zones and factories, urban transport development, urban residential and

business). And both risks intrinsically involve both positive and negative

outputs (Hoa, 1998).

In contrast to the Scudder–Colson model, the IRR model does not attempt to

identify different stages of relocation, but rather aims to identify the

impoverishment risks intrinsic to forced resettlement and the processes

necessary for reconstructing the livelihoods of displacees. The model, is

synchronic, conceptualizes the economic and social content of both

displacement and reestablishment processes. In particular, it stresses that,

unless specifically addressed by targeted policies, forced displacement can

cause impoverishment among displacees by bringing about landlessness,

joblessness, homelessness, marginalization, food insecurity, loss of access to

common property resources, increased morbidity and mortality, and social

disarticulation. To these eight risks, Downing (1996) and Mahapatra (1996)

have added three more: loss of access to public services, disruption of formal

education activities, and loss of civil and human rights. These risks that are

linked in three separate ways: First, as causes of impoverishment, they

influence one another; second, the risks and actions to avoid or address them

are linked as well; third, mitigating the different risks can work synergistically

to reconstitute more sustainable future livelihoods (Cernea, 2000c).

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2.1.1.1.1. A Concise Description of Each Fundamental Risk

1. Landlessness: Comprised of the risk to lose people’s productive systems,

commercial activities, and livelihoods. This principle form of de-capitalization

and pauperization of displacement is vivid in the loss of natural and man-made

capital. Cernea substantiates the premise by quoting various studies conducted

using the analytical model proposed by him. The study of L.K. Mahapatra

(1996b) reveals that economic compensation can never replace the landlessness

and A.B.Ota (1996), corroborate this after studying the Indravati project’s

repercussion after displacement, stating that the people once displaced and lost

the land never regained the same amount of land. Number of oustees in the list

of landless is multiplied due to displacement. It is a worldwide phenomenon

which has more severe consequences in the family life and cultural

degradation. It is more serious in the farm families than loss of the house.

2. Joblessness: The risk of losing wage employment is very high both in urban

and rural displacement especially those employed in enterprises, services or

agriculture. Unemployment or under employment among resettlers often are

led to poverty and low standard of living. The displaced people may lose job in

three ways: 1) in urban areas, workers lose jobs in industry and services; 2) in

rural areas, landless labourers lose access to work on land owned by others and

also lose the use of assets under common property regimes; 3) the self

employed craftsmen, shop owners, and other small scale industrialists lose the

employment opportunities in the displacement. The studies of Balaji Pandey

had proved the same (1998). Though many of the projects offered employment

20

opportunities and special training to oustees, almost all of them end in dismay.

The displacement led to the unproductive use of time, skills and talents of the

displacees. Many of the development projects generated ‘employment boom’

incorporating oustees providing job and monetary benefits but it was short

lived. Only few had access to permanent employment to meet their needs of

life (De & Liptin, 1998).

3. Homelessness. It means loss of shelter which may, for some, be temporary

during the gestation period between displacement and resettlement. But

homelessness also means worsening in their housing standards. In a broader

cultural sense, loss of a family’s individual home and the loss of group’s

cultural space tend to result in alienation and status- deprivation (Cernea,

2000b). Homelessness is the loss of space and time to the oustees. Lower

compensation paid for their old homestead and a reward of meager amount as

shifting charge may lead to the poor housing and sanitation facilities. The

concepts of placelessness of De Wet (1993) and place attachment of Low and

Altman (1992) are adding values to the concept of homelessness.

Displacement may double their cost of construction of a house. This is

corroborated by the studies in India of Upper Krishna dam project, Kudadi-

Krishna irrigation sub-projects in Maharashtra (Cernea, 2000b).

4. Marginalization: Marginalization occurs when families lose economic

power and spiral on a downward mobility path. Middle income farm

households do not become landless, they become small landholders: small

shopkeepers and craftsmen downsize and slip below poverty thresholds. Many

21

individuals cannot use their earlier acquired skills in the new location. Human

capital is lost or rendered inactive or obsolete. “Economic marginalization is

often accompanied by social and psychological marginalization, expressed in

dropping of social status, resettlers’ loss of confidence in society and in

themselves, a feeling of injustice and deepen vulnerability…tend to depreciate

resettlers’ self-image and they are often perceived by host communities as a

socially degrading stigma”(Cernea, 2000b, p.7). Culturally they are belittled in

the new relocation areas where they are new and strangers to the existing

culture, tradition etc. Studies of W.Fernades (2000) and Cernea (1995) confirm

the psychological marginalization and irreparable consequences in culture.

Marginalization begins before the displacement begins. For, once the

notification of land acquisition is issued the investment in the infrastructure,

farming etc. renders to be minimized due to the economic non-viability.

5. Food Insecurity: Forced uprooting increases the risk that people will fall

into temporary or chronic undernourishment, defined as calorie-protein intake

levels below the minimum necessary for normal growth and work. Food

insecurity and undernourishment are both symptoms and results of inadequate

resettlement. The reduction of farm land for development projects may increase

the cost of food. Though intake of food is equal to the period prior to

displacement the quality may be decreased which may reinforce morbidity and

mortality risks (Cernea, 1996a).

6. Increased Morbidity and Mortality: “Massive population displacement

threatens to cause serious decline in the health levels. Displacement induced

22

social stress and psychological traumas are some times accompanied by the

outbreak of relocation-related illness, particularly parasitic and vector-born

diseases such as Malaria and Schistosomiasis” (Cernea, 2000b, p.7). Unsafe

water supply (E-Coli Bateria) and impoverished sewage systems increases

vulnerability to epidemics and chronic diarrhea, dysentery etc, in the weakest

segments of the demographic spectrum - infants, children and the elderly - are

affected most strongly. The interaction between decrease in health and loss of

shelter has been established by scholars like Ferraro and Borup (Qtd. in Cernea,

2000b).

7. Loss of Access to Common Property and Services: For poor people,

particularly for landless and assetless, access to common property that

belonged to relocated communities (pastures, forest lands, water bodies, burial

ground, quarries, public services, schools etc.) result in significant deterioration

of income and livelihood levels which are not compensated by Government or

resettlement agencies. Kibreab has drawn a linkage between common property

resources, poverty and impoverishment risks (Kibred Qtd. in Cernea, 2000b).

His study reveals that the loss of common property resources has created

irreparable consequences in the livelihood and culture of the oustees.

8. Social Disarticulation: “Forced displacement tears apart the existing social

fabric. It disperses and fragments communities, dismantles patterns of social

organizations and interpersonal ties. Kinship groups become scattered as well.

Life sustaining informal networks of reciprocal help, local voluntary

associations and self-organized mutual services are disrupted. This is a net loss

23

of valuable social capital that compounds the loss of natural, physical and

human capitals. The social capital lost through social disarticulation is

typically unperceived and uncompensated by the programmes causing it, and

this real loss has long-term consequences” (Cernea, 2000a, p.9). The studies of

Behura and Nayak (1993), on dam based displacement in India, found various

manifestations of social disarticulation within the kinship system, such as

loosening of intimate bonds, growing alienation and anomie, the weakening of

control of interpersonal behaviour, and lower cohesion in family structures.

The networks that mobilized people to gain common interests and felt needs are difficult to rebuild especially when oustees are resettled in a dispersed manner. Marriages were deferred due to the social stigma attached to them and kinship relationship was eroded between displacees and non-displaced kinsmen…. While struggling to earn livelihood and sustain life they ignored the gods and ancestors (p. 200).

The study of Balgovind (1992) reveals that relocated community took years to

integrate with the host community. The community is disarticulated “because

its spatial, temporal and cultural determinants are gone” (Downing, 1996,

p.200). The heaviest but ignored cost of displacement is the social cost which is

equalized to financial costs. Therefore, Sowell (1996) stated, “among the cost

of all the severing of personal ties in familiar surroundings, to face new

economic and social uncertainties in a strange land” (p34) is the most difficult

cost to repair.

9. Loss of Public Services: Poor dependent expected oustees during the

transition and later is denied of public services that enjoyed by them. They may

be cut off with electricity, water supply, public distribution systems etc.

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10. Loss of Civil and Human rights: Adequate information about rights and

provisions are denied to the oustees. The use of public purpose, eminent

domain will deny individual rights against common rights. Ill treatment and

denial of compensation or forced acquisition are some o the events that deny

the established civil and human rights of the oustees.

11. Disruption in education of Children: Poor and agriculture dependent

people rely on public education system to educate their children. Government

decision to acquire land will influence the economic authority to terminate the

service in concerned project area. This demotivates children and disrupts their

continued education.

2.1.1.1.2 The Risks to Host Populations

The model acknowledges the varied risks to the host populations and therefore,

risk to host population is incorporated as an integral part of model. The

displacees and host populations experience risks not identically but

impoverishment implications applied in host population. The inflow of

displacees to the host populations increases pressure on resources, and scarce

social services. Price level of commodities and land is on hike, which leads to

cultural clashes and environmental degeneration. Displacement results in a

conflict between the informal society to which most of the displaced persons

are inserted and the formal one into which they are inserted because of their

contradictory value systems and social network relationships which requires

25

socio-cultural preparation to adapt to emerging spatio-cultural relationship

(Paul, 2008).

2.1.1.1.3 The Reconstruction Strategy of the Model

The theory not only predicts the risks that the oustees going to face but

suggests the means to prevent the risks to take place in displacement. The

theory proposes a risk reversal method always supported by adequate financing

by the implementing agency. It functions as a guide for action. Therefore,

Robert K. Merton (1979) convincingly called it as ‘self-destroying prophecy’.

The model suggests the impending social and economic risks but if the counter

action is not initiated, these potential hazards convert into actual

impoverishment disasters. The implementation of the model helps us to

evaluate the action taken in resettlement especially in realms of safeguarding,

reconstruction and development. The model opens wider opportunities to adapt

various approaches in implementation of the risk reversal.

2.1.1.1.4 The Reconstruction Methods

The IRR model’s reconstruction methods suggest a move from negative stance

to positive stance and the method comprises of the following;

1. From Landlessness to Land-based Reestablishment, form Joblessness to

Reemployment. Resettling the displaced people on cultivable land or income

generating employment is the heart of the reconstruction. Reconstruction

should always be followed by favourable social policy measures for

26

reconstruction. The State has to limit the use of the term ‘eminent domain’ and

reconstruction should not be at the cost of another community displaced from

their home land.

2. From Homelessness to House Reconstruction. Displacement instigated

housing impoverishment can be effectively prevented incorporating housing

reconstruction cost in project. The bleakness of uprootedness and anger caused

by low compensation can be minimized through permanent good housing. This

can help the displacees to invest their earnings and assets productively to

improve standard of living which boosts the reconstruction effort. “The

evidence worldwide confirms that homelessness is an unavoidable risk of

impoverishment; in fact, house reconstruction allows room not just for

restoring prior standards of living, often very low, but for reconstruction at

improved level” (Cernea, 2000a, p.4).

3. From Disarticulation to Community Reconstruction; from

Marginalization to Social Inclusion; and from Expropriation to

Restoration of Community Assets/Services: These three risks are not

mutually exclusive rather they are contributive to each other. Planners seldom

consider the socio-cultural-psychological dimensions, especially reconstruction

of communities, network, and social cohesion, of the displaced community to

include in the project as element to reconstruct in the relocated

area/community. “Community reconstruction refers to group structures,

including informal and formal institutions, while overcoming marginalization

27

refers primarily to the individual family/household level” (Cernea, 1991a,

p.24). Recreating community resources is decisive in reconstruction of the

community as Cernea calls ‘successful take off’. Therefore he writes, “If

access to resources is below a critical limit (on a per-family or per-capita basis)

the take off is jeopardized, but if it provides a minimal but viable basis, post-

resettlement development can build upon it and be successful” (Cernea, 1995a,

p.24). Deliberate efforts have to be taken in preserving community structures

after displacement, especially the networks. Examples are ample in China,

Mexico and not in India (Cernea, 2000). The resettlement project has to

fashion in such a way that some of the social organizations of the displaced

community has significant role in the resettlement areas to empower the village

structure. Community institutions, religious associations and customs have

pivotal role in organizing vulnerable and marginalized communities in the

society. Community/social re-articulation is not mere regaining of economic

wellbeing rather it is the integral development of the community incorporating

new facilities and avenues in the resettled area for community integration

(Repley, 1996).

To counteract loss of Social Capital or to rearticulate community, we need to

rebuild communities and social networks, which is possible through cultural

sensitive social planning, starting from the initial stages of project preparation.

Cernea suggests seven steps for Cultural Sensitive Social Planning (Cernea,

2006).

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1. Provide information to prospective resettlers early on about resettlement alternatives, possible sites, time tables etc. and find with their participation, the most adequate options available.

2. Plan for group based relocation as much as possible to allow the recreation at the arrival site of group structures similar to those existent in the departure area; such groups can be kin-units, extended families, neighbourhoods, ethnic groups etc.

3. Encourage social organizations among resettlers to handle resettlement demands and problems co-operatively.

4. Create stable communication between managers and resettlers’ own organizations.

5. Provide incentives for organizing physical relocation with mutual help and reduced disruption.

6. Provide incentives for collective actors in rebuilding both community assets and individual dwelling at arrival sites.

7. Diminish powerlessness of resettlers, encourage and empower the creation of associational structures among resettlers for taking over self administration responsibilities at the new sites (p.15).

4. From Food Insecurity to Adequate Nutrition; and from Increased

Morbidity to better Health. Resettlement risks the food availability and

income spend on food. This may risk the health and health care systems

available to them. Thus the resettlement projects immediately address the

coping mechanisms of the resettled community to food and health risks. Thus

health components must be integrated in all development projects as a

safeguard against the high risks of morbidity and mortality.

5. From Loss of Public Service and Civil and Human Rights the Provision

for Public Services and Protection of Civil and Human Rights along with

Education that Builds Community. In order to provide ample venues to

access public services like public distribution systems, civic amenities

necessary laws and its implementation has to be done. The resettlement action

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programmes has to be designed in a way that never deny the human rights of

the oustees. The authorities concerned shall make necessary arrangements that

will never deny the civil rights of the oustees in the process of displacement. A

special provision has to be made to ensure quality education to ousted children,

even building up of schools and colleges to educate children from the ousted

families.

The above description of risks and risk aversion draws the four fold functions

of the models and they are predictive function to predict risk, diagnostic to

measure the levels of risks which are predominant, problem resolution to

resolve effect of impoverishment and research to identify and establish linkage

between variables.

Since the model concentrates on diagnosing, costing, planning, financing and

implementing resettlement projects, it helps to improve the level of

performance resettlement policies by improving the consistency and

effectiveness in implementation of these policies. The model is used as

planning and monitoring tool in India and Philippines since ten years

(Thangaraj, 1996). Using this tool scudder has developed operational

indicators to measure impoverishment and their actual impact on countries

(Scudder, 1996).

2.1.1.1.5 The Need of IRR Model

1. Flaws in Conventional Risk Methodology: In development projects the

planners conduct economic analysis and sensitivity tests to prevent major risks

30

to the projects and rates of return and not to measure the risks posed to the

project displaced people. “Yet the risks that displacement inflicts upon affected

people are not part of the routine risk and sensitivity analyzes carried out by

planners during project’s economic and financial analysis” (Cernea, 2000a,

p.19). Thus the IRR model urges the people and planners to reformulate and

broaden the risks and ‘design insurance measures, as well as, to the extent

possible, risk safeguards and social safety nets’ (Cernea, 2000b).

2. The Absence of Genuine Consultation and Involvement of the Affected

Populations: It is indisputably necessary to hold consultation with people

potentially displaced for a successful resettlement in the development project

(De Wet, 2002). Informal communications with project managers and

displacees may boost the success rate of the resettlement. Thus Cernea rightly

states, “research has confirmed the hypothesis that agency’s failure to grasp

what is socially perceived as risk has played an essential role in the escalation

of the conflict between planners and displacees” (Cernea, 2004, p.22).

Therefore the resettlers must receive timely information in a transparent

manner, understand well the impending displacement, and overcome disbelief

or tendency to denial. The timely information will enable the people and their

organizations informed of conscious participation, negotiation, and adoption of

coping strategies, and use benefit of the project for their integral development.

“Withholding information, instead of participation and transparency, is often

justified by the officials to prevent panic and stress. In fact, however, this is

31

deceptive and self-destroying. It prompts the early mobilization of resettlers in

the reconstruction of their own livelihood” (Cernea, 2003a, p.23).

3. Flaw of Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA): Cost-Benefit Analysis is

macroeconomic tool to analyse the investment and terms of return from the

project but does not consider the distribution of either cost or benefit among the

project stakeholders. It never considers the losses and harms caused to

displacees who are not direct beneficiaries of the project, and distribute benefit

to them.

The frequent response to displacement, therefore, is to pay less compensation possible, to externalize a large part of real costs, and to abandon the displaced people to fend themselves after being uprooted…. This is why justification of costs to individuals through aggregate cost-benefit accounting is logically crude, and glosses over the real impoverishment impacts. It devalues individual’s losses and leaves many negative socio-economic effects unaddressed (Cernea, 2001, p.23).

There are two major defects to the cost-benefit analysis in relations to the

development projects and displacement. They are: methodological and market

defects (Cernea, 1999):

1. Methodological: Cost-benefit and role of return analysis do not address the

mitigation of displacement at individual level. It overweighs individual costs.

Losses of the displaced family cannot be equalized with the benefit of other

families or by aggregate benefits. Aggregate benefits may be real but they do

not automatically offset the individual costs. It also overlooks the distribution

pattern. Cost and benefits do not ask who is paying cost and who is getting

32

benefits or who is losing, but assess only total effects of the projects. It fails to

reckon social costs or social capital.

2 Marketable: Displacement imposes total life change. Land and social costs

are exchanged not voluntarily, not by choice but by necessity. There should

undertake a special economic and financial analysis, an analysis different from

routine cost-benefit analysis for the displacement, relocation, and socio-

economic reestablishment component. Because costs are borne by the public

sector while benefits are enjoyed by the private sector and this tends to

overestimate net benefits (Cernea, 1999c). Paranjpye (1997) noted that cost-

benefit ratio tries to weigh social benefits and societal costs. But since no

distributional weights have been attached, the cost-benefit ratio does not tell us

the distributional impact of this investment; though we get to know what

benefit at what cost, we cannot ascertain whose benefit at whose cost. Thus

problem of rehabilitation of displaced persons is merely represented as a

statistically insignificant value measured in terms of monetary compensation.

The cost benefit analysis is more often accepted due to the under financing of

the resettlement components in the development projects. The meager amount

of compensation for expropriated private property inflicts the displacees to bear

the cost of projects in the name of ‘greater good for greater number’. This

philosophy of development vitiates social justice and democracy which calls

for distributional analysis in the development projects which call for ‘equity

compass’ that requires cost and benefits be calculated distinctively for each

population category affected, positively or negatively. Thus not just an

33

‘economic compensation’ but economics of recovery and development is to be

promoted (Mahapatra, 1999b). “It requires the full internalization of

resettlement costs and the allocation of growth-supporting investments, in

addition to compensation. It implies an economic analysis of resettlement that

goes beyond CBA and would lead to different patterns of financing

resettlement” (Cernea, 2003b, p.24). Compensation alone cannot reconstruct

the socio-economic basis of the displaced and resettled community. It means an

organic synergy and mutual reinforcement between economic and social

knowledge in resettlement work is required (Cernea, 1999b). Involuntary

resettlement is to shift from the shortsighted economics of merely

compensating the displacees to an economics of support for resettlers’ full

recovery and for growth enhancement. Therefore, more economic knowledge

on social variable in development is becoming indispensable to understand

development scientifically, with its benefits and risks, and to influencing and

managing change. The project goal, should be to re-establish the oustees in

such a fashion that they can experience sustained economic growth in the

future, or sustained increase in per capita income.

2.1.1.1.6 Reasons to Opt Economics of Recovery and Not Economics of

Resettlement

The researchers argue that project designs should be pragmatic to include the

economic and social capital of the displacees of the project. It should direct the

planners and implementers to develop an all inclusive and comprehensive

frame work for the development. It requires reorientation in the development

34

paradigm, leading to social inclusion – incorporating economic and social

knowledge in addressing an important challenge faced in development

programmes and population resettlement. The dismaying picture of the

resettlement in various parts of the country reveals not social awareness and

understanding but absence of determination to design and implement people

friendly project in fear of shooting up of the project cost serving as detriment to

the under privileged (Byrne, 2009). As Stigliz (1998) suggests development

project should not focus on economic development but social transformation of

the society. The focus must be social process and social outcome of economic

development. Because more economic knowledge on social variables in

development is becoming indispensable to understanding development

scientifically, with its benefits and risks, and to influence and manage change.

Therefore, “the project goal, should be to re-establish the oustees in such a

fashion that they can experience sustained economic growth in the future, or

sustained increase in per capita income” (Cernea, 1999b, p.21) i.e., economic

recovery requiring additional investment.

The economics of recovery demands a risk analysis to find out distribution of

risks among displacees and level of each risk faced by the oustees especially

when private investment creates risks among the people and State does not bear

responsibility for the same. The areas needed better recoveries as suggested by

Michael M. Cernea (1999b) are:

• Undervaluation of losses; the market’s role versus administrative expropriations.

35

• Risks of de-capitalizations to the displacees and risk-insurance options.

• Impoverishment of resettlers, relative or absolute, and the design of effective safety nets.

• Patterns of externalization and internalization of displacement and recovery costs (including transaction costs to displacees).

• Criteria for financing resettlement component in projects.

• Distributional inequities in project entailing relocation.

• Resettlement productivity of displacees through growth enhancing financial investments, additional to compensation (p.24).

2.1.1.1.7 Reasons for the Failure of IRR

IRR fails due to four major reasons:

1. Expropriation laws provide for compensation of condemned assets but they don’t aim at, nor do they promise reestablishment of prior levels.

2. Financial resources allocated for displaced people usually fall short, often by large amounts.

3. The current methodology for economic and financial analysis of displacement/relocation costs tends to externalize those costs, rather than to internalize them within project budgets.

4. The institutions in-charge typically lacks a policy mandate, commensurate organizational capacity, and professional social engineering skills (Cernea, 2000c).

Koeing (2001) have pointed methodological error in the IRR model i.e., as

cause of its failure. The IRR framework accepts projects as inevitable and then

considers its implications which direct the framework to exclude many crucial

mechanisms such as:

1. Failure to recognize the diverse patterns of displacements followed in different projects.

2. It always conceptualized resettlement-rehabilitation studies as State versus people where as it did not consider the problems of emerging scenario under globalization and liberalization, especially in the light of changing dynamics of global capital accumulation.

36

3. It does not allow questioning the desirability of the project (p.115).

A close examination of IRR reveals that the model is being updated timely and

proved right in different culture of the world. Since the model suggests a check

in desirability of the project through research and predictor factors the

arguments rose against the model stand null and all the more the model

suggests a comprehensive approach to the project.

2.1.1.1.8 History of Indian IRR

Impoverishment Risk and Reconstruction (IRR) model has been used as a

framework for a number of studies in India. Mahapatra (1996a, b) uses the

model to examine India's experience with involuntary resettlement in Orissa

from 1947-97, examining each of the IRR risks in turn. In India, for instance,

researchers found that the country’s development programmes have caused an

aggregate displacement of more than 20 million people during roughly four

decades, but 75 per cent of those people have not been rehabilitated

(Fernandes, 1991, 92) and their livelihood have not been restored. In fact, the

vast majority of development resettlers in India have become impoverished.

(Mahapatra, 1999a) Balaji Pandey (1998) had under taken a methodological

study of IRR and brought about most comprehensive and integrated survey of

displacement in India. Ota and Mohanty (1998) brought forward the result of

displacement of Rengali Dam which confirms the validity of IRR in Indian

context. The work of L.K. Mahapatra in 1999 confirms the IRR model. And

Parasuraman suggests (1999) that the loss of land is the single most important

cause of post-displacement impoverishment in India. M.Basu (1996) explored the

37

linkage between IRR and basic needs. Few others like Manish Kumar Verma

(2004) & S. Kothari (1995, 6) studied further specifically onthe social

disarticulation risk to oustees faced.

Conclusion

The model, as a frame work for study and research along with its applicability,

conveys two basic messages: a policy message and a strategy message. “The major

policy message embodied in the model is that the general risk pattern inherent in

displacement can be controlled through a policy response that mandates and

finances integrated problem resolution. But this pattern of interlocked risks cannot

be controlled by piecemeal palliatives” (Cernea, 1999b, p.22).

The strategy message embodied in the model is that specific resettlement programs

(plans) are required each time, in order to build the bridge from the general risk

model to the particular resettlement circumstances and to mobilize concerted

actions by interested institutions and social groups. Single means-for instance, just

cash compensation-do not respond to all risks. Compensation alone is not a

substitute for the absence of strategy and full-fledged resettlement programs. The

reconstruction of the life of the displaced should be conceived and implemented

with the participation of the people. This is to follow not a one-actor strategy, for

the state alone; rather, it is an all-actors strategy i.e., participation of all relevant

actors, resettlers, local leaders, non-al organizations, host population (Cernea,

1999b). Thus it helps researchers and academicians to depend on model and to

promote a balanced development for the people with people’s participation to avert

the risks predicted in the life of the development projects.

38

PART: II

2.2 Literature Review on Development-Induced Displacement

and Social Disarticulation

Development is defined in terms of social transformation which includes the

practice of social justice - equitable distribution of benefit and loses, social

inclusion – as against the social exclusion termed by Amartya Sen (1997) and

provision for human rights to the displaced community (Cernea, 1999b). The

social transformation consists of not only raise in per capita income, living

standard, health and literacy, reduced percentage of poverty but in the quality

of living and practice of social inclusion by articulating their lives. We must

focus on, Development-Induced Displacement (DID) projects leading to

Dispossession, Dislocation, and Disempowerment, resettlers struggle with the

risks and hardships of their displacement and try to reestablish themselves.

Resettlement of DID and Displacement due to conflict, natural disasters or

others are differed in varied reasons. In DID, the State is accountable and

amenable to provide resources for reconstruction; however, this is not the case

of refugees. Yet essential component of reconstruction remains the same

(Cernea, 2000a).

The new development paradigm - development benefit through imposing cost -

that has been articulated to promote poverty reduction, environmental

protection, social justice and human rights is working as norm for development

boom. ‘All the capital intensive establishments were considered as modern

39

temples of India and symbols of development to follow’, says the architect of

modern India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Former Prime Minister of India (Qtd.

in Cernea, 2000c, p.196). But most of the development projects in India lack

data of displaced people and use the tact of piece-meal to displace phase by

phase (WCD, 2000). Studying Upper Kolab Dam displacement Dr.Bipin

Kumar (2003) says, “Though revision of expenditure on different sub-heads on

resettlement and rehabilitation were recommended and approved from time to

time, authorities did not provide it adequately to the oustees” (p.8). Therefore

Robinson (Courtland, 2000) said “While development can be the proper

expression of a State’s responsibility to ensure the protection and welfare of its

citizens, where development leads to arbitrary displacement, injustice, and

impoverishment, the responsibility still falls primarily to the State to take

corrective action” (p.17). For, development is a right of people but right to be

protected is also right of the people-oustees. World Commission for Dams

(WCD) confirms that these projects did not do justice to the oustees and it

states, “Impoverishment and disempowerment have been the rule rather than

the exception with respect to resettlement of people around the world” (WCD,

2000, p.3).

The researcher presents the survey of literature on subject under study in eight

major headings viz, Development-Induced Displacement, Land acquisition act

and Historical perspectives, Other related enactments, Resettlement and

rehabilitation policy implications, Social costs/capitals, Social disarticulation,

Participation and its role in the Development-Induced Displacement and

40

Resettlement and approaches to resettlement and reconstruction expecting to

provide brief sketch about subject and thereby identify the gap in the existing

studies undertaken by eminent scholars.

2.2.1 Development-Induced Displacement

The earlier studies of displacement and resettlement were related with dams

and therefore the concentration was on fragile ecological systems and the

affected people were called as “down-streamers” and Scudder even defined

other project affected persons as “all other river-basin residents” (DeWet, 2002,

p.8). Later the studies have resulted to redefine the arena of Development-

Induced Displacement, Resettlement and the concept of Development.

It is befitting to mention the concept of development in first generation projects

of the country. It is believed that the benefits would trickle down from those

specifically targeted to the rest of the population, which was criticized by

sections of the society noting that wealthier sections of the population tended to

benefit more than others (Rapley, 1996). But the focus was shifted to equity of

benefits across society, which is an important development in the thinking

pattern of the development initiatives. This led the donor agency to target

eradication of poverty and the development of the least well-off of the society.

Thus the goal of development and development projects have to be analyzed,

especially the concept of equity of benefit. When the national welfare is prior

to displacees the impoverishment of the displaced occur (Meikle & Julian,

1998).

41

Another debatable issue is about the relationship between economic growth

and other goals of development like environmental sustainability, human and

social development, the distribution of political power and protection of basic

human rights. Economic development projects need not be bringing social or

integrated development of the society. But development without economic

development is impossible and simply redistributing the existing resources may

not bring development.

For World Bank, development means improving the quality of life of those

affected than deteriorating. The World Commission for Dams (2000) defined

development as “sustainable improvement of human welfare… on the basis

that is economically viable, socially equitable, and environmentally

sustainable” (p.2). It means development is an integrated growth of whole

sections of the society. The improvement of welfare of the people is rather

important and must be the goal of development i.e., empowerment which is

possible through equity of benefit sharing and improving the efficiency of the

oustees. Political power of the displacees is, unrecognized by the authorities, a

means to recognize the equity in benefit sharing. Equity means complementing

the efficiency to restore the livelihood of the oustees. This may generate the

political control over the resources by different groups of oustees, especially

weaker sections of the society. Political dimension means paying attention to

the divergent interests of the different groups involved in resettlement.

Therefore, delving deep into the initiatives of CIAL to empower the weaker

42

resettled communities and to measure the disempowerment and dispossession

taken place due to displacement –disarticulation- is right and justifiable.

To combat with poverty/impoverishment means to perform three tasks:

providing opportunity, enhancing security, and facilitating empowerment.

Empowerment is the first choice to restore and reconstruct the life of the

displacees.

Empowerment includes the ability of individuals and local groups to make choices about their own lives and to participate in directing their larger societies….Therefore, development of displaced peoples would need to include not only increasing access to economic and social resources, but also increasing local autonomy, control and improving people’s ability to affect their own national institutions (Koenig, 2001, p.21).

The concept of empowerment can be better understood only in the analysis of

the concept development from the perspective of big development projects,

national integration and planning.

Development can never be free of contradictions, conflicts and population

displacement. People are ready to recognize displacement as part of the

development projects but “development means, however, that induced

development should accept it as a God-given tragedy worthy of little more than

a compassionate shrug of shoulders” (Cernea, 1991a, p.191). To the displacees

it is not the movement itself that is so traumatic; rather, its impact on the

structures of economic and cultural life. Instead of standing for common good

State tries to sell out common good when the weaker sections are

disempowered. Thus the State is considered as sinister machine. Considering

national integration, States do appear to have tendencies toward cultural

43

homogenization and difficulties in accepting the rights of groups to be

culturally distinct. Thus national integration impoverishes oustees in social and

cultural life (Ginger, 2001). “In a democratic world we should not try to

achieve national development goals at the expense of exploiting the poor

innocent people who have already been marginalized due to social, cultural and

economic backwardness” (Verma, 2004, p.314). In the case of planning States

need to act and plan for public interest; but State is criticized for its top-down

approach in planning which pay no attention to actual lives of the target

groups-resettled community. Studies disclose that resettlement packages are

void of proper planning but have hidden goals or indirect goals than national

welfare (De Wet, 1993).

Sustainable development means to improve human wellbeing, with the goal

that children’s lives be as good as, or better than, their parents. The sustainable

society has the capacity to deal with all kinds of risks including minor disasters

and its members’ mutual support claim ownership and enhance their social and

political institution. In displacement the balance of sustainable community is

broken and leads to not only physical eviction from dwelling but also the

expropriation of all possible means of life including culture. It is for the culture

of the community acclaimed first internationally and not for the individual

asset (Shiva, 1994). As displacement studies reveal displaced community,

though remain poor, their culture is protected with high degree of social

cohesion. Drawing from world’s rich experiences and support of data on

resettlement studies we can be sure that development-induced displaced people

44

are subject to various kinds of risks - IRR model of M.M Cernea and later

added by Downing, Mathur and Mahapatra (1996). The analysis of risks in the

development-induced displaced community proves that displacement leads to

‘new poverty’ measured in terms of survivability and human dignity. It is their

land and home which define who they are? where they are and their loss lead to

social disarticulation? In order to counteract displacement effect we need to

draft a resettlement plan in tune with their culture with prior informed consent

of the displaced people. It is possible when people are aware of the project and

its various components and how they are affected including vulnerable groups

of the society.

“The need of the hour is to stitch a more stronger, resilient and colourful

people centric; people sensitive tapestry sculpted by the process of shared

understanding” (Negi, 2003, p.76) which ensures that development is more

sustainable and more humane. It is a process of healing and must emerge not

through anecdotes, but through a complex, coherent and cohesive argument

that shows clearly where we have been, what happened, why we are in conflict,

and how we can, with proper understanding of healing.

Therefore, development should generate, accumulate and transfer knowledge

and know-how on human aspects of economic, political, cultural and social

change, dealing with the challenges of transformation and change within the

already expanding horizon of availability of development options and the

emergence of the contemporary environmental crisis as global phenomenon to

heal the society (Tripathy, 2003). It requires shedding misconceptions by going

45

beyond development advocating comparative analysis of societal problems

highlighting similarities and commonalities as well as geographically,

culturally and historically determined differences.

Development, thus, calls for constant innovation rooted in political, social, economic, cultural, and ecological dimensions crosscutting and bringing synergies among social forces, Governmental, the non-Governmental sector, gender and ecological concerns and include the knowledge of general principles that are distinctively for alternative development. It needs deep delve into power structure and political institution influencing development outcomes and also in the current drive toward ‘modernization revisionism’ embedded in the triple discourse of democratization, human rights and good governance (Negi, 2003, p.80).

2.2.1.1 Internal Displacement and Development-Induced Displacement

Development-Induced Displacement can be defined as the forcing of

communities and individuals out of their homes, often also their homelands, for

the purposes of economic development. Geographic displacement can be

within a city or district, from one village or neighbourhood to another. It can

also involve displacement across long distances and boarders, sometimes

economically, socially, and culturally quite different settings. In broader terms

displacement includes move from economic activities and cultural practices

without geographic moves and such move is a global phenomenon.

Those who are forced to leave their home and flee because of conflict, human

rights violation, and other natural or human-made disasters are called internally

displaced. The term internally displaced can also be applied not only to

refugees, victims of race and ethnic violence but also to individuals and

communities made refugees primarily by development policies, programmes

and projects (Bose, 2003). For, the number of oustees (internally displaced

46

people) is shooting up due to the increasing political, economic and cultural

globalization. United Nations Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement

define the internally displaced as “persons or groups of persons who have been

forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence

in particular as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict,

situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights, or natural or

human made disasters and who have not crossed an internationally recognized

state boarder” (UNGP, 2008). This definition rightly includes the

development-induced displacees into the list. UNGP article 6 agrees that

“every human being shall have the right to be protected against being

arbitrarily displaced from his or her home or place of habitual residence”

(UNGP, 2008). The displaced are not simply disadvantaged group or

causalities of a natural disaster. They are victims of violence, persecution and

human rights abuse directed against them because of their membership in a

particular group or residents in a particular area. While countries like India

have aggressively clamoured for more benefits from development projects,

they have consistently haggled over their share of rehabilitation cost and totally

disregarded the plight of the displaced revealed in the low human development

index even after achieving over 7.5 per cent growth rate. This is because State

agencies in India have historically and educationally been conditioned to be

insensitive to the needs of the lowly placed labouring people. Therefore U.N.

Guiding Principles emphasize that if displacement occurs, it should be

temporary. It directs:

47

1. Displacement should last no longer than required, by the compelling circumstances that legitimize the movements. Solutions should be explored and implemented as soon as possible.

2. Consultation with the populations to be displaced will identify some possible alternatives to displacement or they move voluntary.

3. Choices of relocation sites help to protect rights and minimize disruption (UNGP, 2008).

“Thus, a new definition of Development should consider the aspects of

development for whom, by whom, at what cost to the individual and the

environment. For displacement has been silent but acute and frequent”

(Parasuram, 1999, p.2).

2.2.1.2 Involuntary Displacement

In involuntary displacement people are forced to leave their dwelling places

due to physical threat, if did not use actual application of force they do not

vacate. In such situations they face struggle and trauma of being uprooted.

Therefore, Jayawardhane writes, “No trauma can be more painful for a family

than to get uprooted from a place where it has lived for generations and move

to place it may be a total stranger” (1998a, p.17). Though causes of

displacement and resettlement have been varied the process with their

hardships, pains, the victimization has been continuous. Displacement will not

disappear rather continue or multiply acquiring the space owned and inhabited

by millions of people. Involuntary displacement and resettlement consists of

two factors which are not mutually exclusive but related process (Cernea,

1995a).

48

Thus we can define involuntary displacement as a process of unraveling

established human collectivities, existing patterns of social organization,

production system and network of social services. It also describes situations in

which some people are deprived of their productive lands, or of income-

generating assets, without being physically evicted from their houses affecting

them in four ways. 1) Cause severe long-term hardship, impoverishment and

even decimation of the affected communities. 2) Adversely affect the host

population. 3) Lead to severe environmental damage which requires proper

understanding. 4) Involuntary displacement is against the will and it involves

people of all ages and gender (ADB, 1998).

After studying various development-induced displaced people and projects

Downing (2002) has identified goals and means to minimize displacement. The

goals are:

1. Displace people without concern for their future.

2. Relocation which involves some commitment for compensating their lost assets. The displaced are left to reestablish productive system as their own

3. Rehabilitation ensures not only compensation and relocation but also displacees have income streams, livelihood and social system restored. Sustainability of development means the compensated affected people and their off springs are substantially better off than before (p.129).

The means to achieve these goals are three and they are: Forced appropriation,

compensation as replacement value and benefit sharing of the project with the

displacees. Very often rehabilitation and relocation are viewed as benefit

sharing. The project implementers should ensure basic compatibility between

goals (restoring and improving incomes) and means (compensation for losses).

49

It is identified that “goals are inherently condemned to remain most often and

chronically unreachable” (Cernea, 2003b, p.15).

Development is necessary and at the same time resettlement could be made equitable if resettlement is itself reshaped into a bridge to development, that is, to better livelihood. The only way out to this dilemma is to strive continuously to enable those victimized displacees to be among the primary recipients of the benefits expected from development and directly from the development projects that cause their displacement (Cernea, 2006, p. xx).

Therefore, displaced must be consulted; compensated for their losses; and

assisted to rebuild their homes and communities, reestablish their enterprises,

and develop their potentials as productive members of the society at a level

generally at least equivalent to that which was likely to have prevailed in the

absence of development intervention (ADB, 1998). This is more important

when the displaced are poor and vulnerable and they do not have the capacity

to absorb such adverse impacts. For, they may not have crossed a boarder and

may not be considered to be in ‘refugee-like’ circumstances within their own

country. Nevertheless, they have been evicted from their homes or places of

habitual residence disrupting their lives and livelihoods throwing to face the

uncertainties of resettling in unfamiliar, often inhospitable locations. Hari

Mathur (2008) says, “Involuntary resettlement leads to increased stress, both

psychological and socio-cultural and unfortunate outcomes the feeling of

alienation, helplessness and powerlessness overtake the displaced which may

lead to fear psychosis in the mind of the displaced persons” (p.33).

“Displacement or dispossession as a process does not start with establishment

of specific projects, in fact what is conventionally called displacement is only

50

the more brutal, abrupt, and large-scale manifestations of an ongoing process of

pauperization and creation of proletarian during capitalist reconstruction”

(Behera & Mohanty, 2003, p.174). It needs historical dimension to bring into

picture to analyse the dynamics of dispossession, marginalization and

dislocation. Thus we need to conceptualize displacement as a process. The

abrupt, large scale involuntary population displacements are only violent forms

of this process.

Though there are a few cases displacement and subsequent rehabilitation

provide substantial opportunities for achieving a higher quality of life a

majority of the people displaced remain basically rural, rootless and lower than

prior to the displacement. Quality of life is to be understood to include not only

the things one requires for good health and reasonable comforts of life, but also

a satisfying social settings, a sense of security and a particular level of

education for the effective functioning of the community through self-

management institutions. The deterioration in the quality of life after

displacement raises issues of governance and governmentality. Governance is

related with good administration of policy where as governmentality is related

possibilities or provisions in the frame of reference of law, constitution, policy

etc. For example with reference to Indian Constitution and displacement we

have concepts and rights such as life with dignity, measures to achieve social,

economic and political justice, promotion and preservation of culture, informed

consent, right to information, democratic participation etc. But in displacement

the people’s right is taken away and they were denied of informed consent and

51

right to information in the development project applying eminent domain

(Bose, 2003).

2.2.1.3 The Ethics of Development-Induced Displacement

Out of many development problems of the country Development-Induced

Displacement is one of the deep concerns in our country and it needs proper

information and greater sensitivity to deal with the problems of the displaced.

Though displacement has become result of the development projects, it was not

recognized as part of it and did nothing concrete to rehabilitate them. The

present scenario of displacement is improved and recognized as an in-built

feature of every blue print of the project. Developmental projects are

indisputably needed but whether they should restrict populations’ rights by

State-power intervention often carried out in ways that cause the affected

populations to end up worse off. The Guiding principle ‘greater good for the

larger numbers’ is the routinely invoked rationale of forced displacement; but

development planners ignore the principle of social justice and equity.

Development projects are seen as a symbol of synch-dacha for more gradual

process of modification and resource intensification - a paradigm of

development glorifying ‘progress and modernity’ but at the cost of social

justice (Baviskar, 1995). R.K Pachuri (2000) writes:

Out of 300 million plus population in our towns and cities, perhaps 100 million live in slums and foot paths…. If these citizens of India are condemned to a sub-human existence… we need major grass-roots efforts to turn around the misplaced priorities of our past and present policies. There is much bigger deeming called India’s distorted development displacing millions of people each year which unfortunately get no attention either from

52

activists in the country or the urban intelligentsia whose voices are heard within India and abroad (p. 5).

Few have maintained, analyzing the statistics of the displacement that “DID is

a violation and therefore unacceptable, no matter what development benefits or

costs might be” (Pettersson, 2002, p.106). Therefore, justifiability of

development project can be ethically determined only when we ethically

analyze the tension between the right to develop, on the one hand, and the

resulting harm to people and their human rights, on the other hand. There are

three ethical perspectives suggested by Bjorn Patterson to determine the

justifiability of the DID – public interest, self-determination and egalitarianism.

The public interest perspective consists of cost-benefit analysis, supports the

decision that brings the greatest net benefit to the population as a whole. Self-

determination is dealing with freedom and personal or communal control. The

use of coercive force violates the property rights of the individual in the State.

Egalitarian perspective stresses on actions that reduce poverty and/or inequality

and those displaced must share in the benefit of the project but share must be at

the cost of the wealthy (Drydyk, 1999). Along with them we are forced to

consider eight ethical issues identified by Drydyk & Atiya (2006) in the

displacement and resettlement and they are: irresponsible design, equity, and

voluntariness including democratic self-determination, indigenous people’s

consent, human rights, environmental concern, heritage sites, and compliance

which all the more contribute to social disarticulation of community.

Rehabilitation can be justified only when avoidance of coercive displacement

in favour of negotiated settlement, the minimization of resettlement numbers,

53

the full compensation of displacees for all losses and the use of development

benefits to reduce poverty and inequality is realized. But “in the case of

involuntary resettlement, the State serves often as both implementer and referee

and hence is invariably compromised” (Koenig, 2001, p.22). The concept

Mutatis Mutandis is typical to displacing organizations that build infrastructure

but unable to perform it in ethical manner. In ethical concept, DID cannot be

categorized into ‘unanticipated consequences’ because no development

projects are implemented without prior plan.

The WCD suggests that an approach based on recognition of rights and

assessment of risks is to be developed as a tool for future planning and decision

making (Courtland, 2000). This requires developing network of state, national

and international organizations, and private committed organization in the local

level. Because displacement differs by cause, content, the way they unfold and

the way they end. Projects, especially public sector projects are well defined

and planned to end time bound. Paradoxically these plans start with great

splendor but not stick on to time frame. Cernea suggests Resettlement action

plan (RAP) with time bound to protect the displaced. “Despite the great detail

description for designing such RAPs, they indicate only a time-bound

beginning but not a time-bound end to displacement” (Cernea, 2003b, p.1).

The answer to the question begins with the question when does the

displacement begin? It begins long before the physical relocation takes place;

the onset of economic effects of expropriation very often precedes physical

relocation. In India it begins with the rumour of land acquisition for particular

54

project by the application of public domain or public purpose and specifically

from the first notice onwards. The inhabitants begin to suffer adverse economic

consequences long before being physically displaced and this period of pre-

project condemnation is manifested in relative impoverishment commencement

(Cernea, 2003a).

RAP should be based on two elements; criteria for defining the end of

displacement and measurements to ascertain that criteria is met. End of

displacement should be derived from policy which defines the objectives of

displacement and resettlement. Measuring the criteria to be met can be

identified in the achievement of policy objective i.e., resettled people reach the

pre-displacement level. Resettlement and reconstruction of livelihood can be

achieved when the third phase of displacement takes place (Scudder, 1991).

But much displacement never reaches planned milestone and leave end of

displacement open-ended. The statistical evidences prove that out of 20 million

people displaced in India 15 million are relocated but not rehabilitated

(Fernandes, 1991). Correct definition of end of resettlement consistent with

RAP’s objectives and with the policy that can be remedial to the problems.

The very content of the RAP should be tailored towards achieving this end in a

measurable way and with time-bound accountability for each project. The

process half-way ended will only swell the rank of the poor with newly

impoverished people or add to new poverty.

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2.2.1.4 Resettlement in Development-Induced Displacement

Resettlement operations involving the planned and controlled transfer of people

from one area to another are undertaken throughout the developing world in

response to a range of causal agents, including population pressure, natural

catastrophes, man-made disasters, poverty, unemployment, agricultural and

industrial and development activities (Woldeselassie, 2000). Resettlement

refers to the process of physical relocation of those displaced and to their socio-

economic re-establishment as family/household micro-units and as larger

communities.

Resettlement in western literature encompasses the process of displacement

and reestablishment. But in India, we usually differentiate between resettlement

and rehabilitation. Resettlement in India means simple relocation after

physical displacement from the original habitat. ‘Rehabilitation is defined as

grafting a community at a new place and nurturing to ensure its steady and

balanced growth. But narrowed concept rehabilitation is referred only to a

household, or a section of targeted groups, or even an individual such as an

orphan or a displaced person who are physically handicapped’ (Cernea, 2000b,

p.22). Basically rehabilitation focuses on achieving sustained development for

displaced people. Therefore Cernea (1996d) writes:

Rehabilitation refers to the fate of the displaced people after the relocation and to reconstruction of their patterns of socio-economic organization….In India, a country tested by much population displacement and distinguished by vast social science literature about it, two distinct concepts are used for the two post displacement phases of this process: resettlement and rehabilitation. The Indian legal and sociological literatures uniformly emphasize that rehabilitation does not occur automatically just after relocation…. Indeed,

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resettlement may occur without rehabilitation and unfortunately it often does (p.191).

Resettlement and rehabilitation are interrelated processes, not necessarily

sequential stages. Resettlement and rehabilitation is a single continuum, but

they are not in practical sense. To be successful, rehabilitation processes may

be, and sometimes should be, initiated before physical displacement of the

people take place. Rehabilitation, thus, refers to restoring the incomes,

livelihoods, and social systems of the displacees to at least the level of their

pre-project status. “Unfortunately, the resettlement projects often end up as

exploited contract labourers rapped in perpetual poverty or they simply leave

the area, to reappear in the slums of the city or as squatters” (Downing &

Gracia-Downing, 2001, p.7). Resettlements other than spontaneous -

individual initiative and paternalistic - including imposed, planned and

controlled relocation invites both relocation and rehabilitation. Involuntary

resettlement is a comprehensive concept integrating displacement and

resettlement into a single term, in which the emphasis on involuntariness

connotes directly forced displacement. In India, official terminology is

resettlement and rehabilitation and not displacement which mean socio-

economic hardships and losses. No protective walls of the country can reduce

risks to human life unless there is building of adequate organizations as

vehicles for collective, coordinated action against risks and hazards before they

actually occur.

Involuntary population resettlement is a complex and painful process which

needs sociological interventions and strategies. “Resettlement, both voluntary

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and involuntary raises issues of cultural integration and environmental

sustainability. In contrast to voluntary resettlement, involuntary resettlement

requires everybody to be resettled, including old, the weak, infirm and the

complete family households” (Asif, 2000, p.412). Involuntary resettlement is

stressful in unique ways, and that stress has made wide implications over a

number of generations. Manish Kumar (2004) writes:

Populations relocated by disasters or uprooted by actions are not alone in having to farm inferior or marginal lands, they are not alone in living in sub-standard housing with few services, often in conflict with the host population and local, and without international recognition of their plight. However, displaced and resettled communities are forced to do so in a situation in which past securities have been removed, and vulnerability suddenly and externally imposed. Resettlement facilitates a smooth transition from the original habitation to the resettlement area and resettlement can be defined as the physical implantation in a new colony (p.240).

The CIAL has acquired 36 acres of land of paddy field at Akaparambu, and

few acres of land in, Parappuram, Edanadu, and Kuzhippalam I, II,

Thuruthusserry (nearby Panchayaths) Nayathode, Kavaraparambu

(Municipality) for the resettlement of evicted households. Infrastructural

facilities such as water, electricity and road were not provided initially although

these were part of the deal with the people but provided later after a lot of hue

and cry by oustees. The official report said that all the displaced people were

resettled. Murickan, M.K; Jose, K.A & Pillai (2003) write about life status of

CIAL’s displacees:

At the time of relocation, the authorities appeared thousands of time in front of their houses, luring them with baggage of Santa Clause type of handsome compensation packages. But just after relocation, they disappeared from the scene. There are little chances to effectively question the displacement process. The agitation brings unity among the displacees but many times did

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not bring result as expected. The monsoon brought ‘cats and dogs’ in the rain due to flood in the new resettlement area. The displacement took place without socio-economic study (p.354).

In many resettlements, the implementing agency used the divide and rule

policy so that they can evacuate the people from the land and soon the project

be implemented as ‘a piece meal’ tactic said by a Prof. E.J Thomas (in personal

discussion with research scholar).

“Total rehabilitation should, therefore include, apart from physical

resettlement, replacement of common property resources and socio-cultural

systems, psychological preparation and technical training to deal with the new

society and economy” (Murickan, Geoge, Emmanuel, Jos & Pillai, 2003,

p.41). Compensation cannot be treated as a substitute for resettlement, because

it is the only price paid for the marketable assets. Resettlement and

rehabilitation are to help the deprived to restore the lost capabilities and

congenial environment enjoyed by them before displacement and begin life

anew. It should compensate for the trauma of displacement, break up of

community systems and other forms of attack on peoples’ livelihood

(Fernandes & Asif, 1997). Most displaced persons (DPs), illiterate and

inadequately exposed to the formal economy, are pushed overnight from

sustenance to a competitive economy. Therefore, they should be prepared

psychologically, socially, economically and technically for the transition to a

new society (Mukerji, 1997). Verma (2004) writes:

Relocation was not the end of trauma in the life of the victims rather it started a new phase of agony and frustration….Family, culture, and living standard of the victims experienced total crumble. If we do comparative analysis, we

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will realize that the victims have lost more and gained less. Though, there has been economic development in the region, but it is not adequate in the light of the social capital loss the people incurred (p.232, 3).

Various development agencies (World Bank, ADB etc.) have, later

incorporated, culture sensitivity and environmental factors into policy which

was aiming at reparation of social costs paid by the marginalized and

vulnerable (oustees) sections of the society. “The economic and political

systems, till recent years, kept a culture of silence against the socio-cultural

implications of the development” (Cernea, 2000c, p.2). It is observed that

when development projects launched and displaced people in 1950s, the

commitment to proper rehabilitation was high. For example, the then Prime

minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, took an active interest in the

appropriate rehabilitation of affected people (Durgapur Steel Plant Project). As

the years pass on and need for development of projects increased, we see a

diminishing graph in the commitment to rehabilitation.

It is, therefore, fit to examine two factors of resettlement process: development

and demography, which are very much explicit in India; on the one hand

India’s rapid phase of urbanization, industrialization and mechanization and on

the other hand land-per-capita ratio decrease (Cernea, 2006, p.xiv). Therefore,

there are two strategies which can be followed in restoration. 1) Land-based

strategies: the crux of resettlement plan is to reestablish life of resettlers by

providing land to the displacees to settle. 2) Employment based strategies. A

blending of both is to be promoted to design Resettlement action plan covering

development package and strategy, social organization of resettlers, valuation

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and compensation, habitat and social services, and environmental protection

and management.

Absence of RAP and size of the land urge people for self resettlement after

being evicted. Either no land was offered to them from the project or the land

offered them was too small. The sizable number of household was not

considered by the project for resettlement. Among the displaced, “the affluent

groups do not lose so completely. They are in a better position to adjust the

change. In fact, they prefer to resettle themselves with resources of their own

rather than endure Governmental administration of their lives. For them

uprooting is certainly less traumatic” (Mathur, 1998, p.195) and many field

researchers in India corroborate this observation (Nayak, 1996; Baboo, 1992).

2.2.2 Land Acquisition Act (LAA 1894) and Displacement:

Historical Perspective

The Land Acquisition Act is an inheritance from British colonialism to India.

“Colonialism can be seen as precursor of the development projects that today

force large groups of marginalized people from an existence at a reasonably

comfortable subsistence level to a life of abject poverty” (Parasuram, 1999,

p.38). The colonial practice of segmenting population to impoverishment and

deprivation, exploiting one group with the help of others gave rise to unequal

distribution of wealth and resources among the displaced. This caused pressure

on land, resources, labour market, and social conflict. This set the oustees to

decide upon their future. After the independence, the transfer of power, in the

effort to modernize primitive societies, Government decided to build the

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‘temples of development’. But these temples were subject to criticism.

Amartya Sen writes “increasing disappointment about the failure of

‘development’ to produce the promised benefits, and the distress caused by

victimization of many of the targeted beneficiaries of development, especially

among the marginalized, have led to a reconsideration of potential of dominant

development paradigm to create a just and human society”(Qtd.in Parasuram,

1999, p.40). Land acquisition act has to be understood and judged in the light

of the times it served: a totalitarian state, with the colonial mind-set and

exploitive in nature. Thus, the Act does not serve the new milieu. Since the

Land Acquisition Act was enacted in a period where State played negligible

role in promoting welfare of the people its application in its present form is

contradictory and brings conflict of interest. Parasuram, S. (1999) scribes:

The act was originally designed to enable exploitation by colonial administration, and is being applied by the post-colonial State in much the same way, for the purpose that could hardly be described as public. Because: firstly, Act basically meant to assist the powerful non-democratic at its wish. Secondly the present Government aim at welfare of the citizen, accord protection and help the citizen from cradle to grave. Thirdly, when the act is enacted the land to be acquired only for limited purpose but the purpose has been increased. Lastly, when law enacted compensation could be satisfactory but in the background of increased demand for land and scarcity of land compensation alone cannot serve the purpose (p.41).

Land Acquisition Act can be traced back in India to 1824 known as The

Regulation I of 1824. The Act VI of 1857 was applicable to whole British

India. The detailed procedure of the Act was provided in the Act 1870. Since

these acts did not fulfill the needs Land Acquisition Act was passed in 1894. A

shift in the Act was seen by 1984 amendment by which the Act is made

applicable to Whole India except Jammu & Kashmir. Prior to which the Act

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was not applicable to Jammu & Kashmir, Rajasthan, Kerala and Nagaland

States that have their own self contained Land Acquisition Act. Features of the

enactment are use of public purpose, limited right to object acquisition; reasons

of emergency and urgent can supersede all challenges. Compensation based on

market value, loss of land does not include damages caused to air, soil, water,

pollution or loss of accesses, loss of work and wages of dependents are not

included, public purpose is not adequately defined, and inclusion of private

sector in public purpose in the 1984 amendment.

According to section 11 of the Land Acquisition Act, District Collector needs

to inquire into claims by litigants and award of compensation. The District

Collector is vested with immense power to decide upon land to be acquired and

award of compensation. The term public purpose is not defined and no proper

guidelines are provided to interpret it. Thus the term becomes arbitrary and

gives absolute authority to district collector (Patnaik E. R., 2003). The Act has

the power to supersede all the enactments to displace whole communities in the

name of ‘public purpose’ which weighs more than individual’s or community’s

rights. The law provides statutory power to decide what constitute public

purpose the State. The provision of ‘emergency’ equips the Government to cut

short all the processes in acquisition of land.

The positive aspect of the amendment is that the Act limited the time duration

as three years between preliminary notification and acquisition but does not

provide time frame for compensation. The act does not give any rights to

victims to prevent the acquisition of land under public purpose but can delay

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acquisition by raising objection. The court does not have the power to decide

whether the purpose behind the acquisition is public or private. The only

provision is to challenge in the court but only few affluent and affordable

people go for it. Still court cannot take decision but only can direct the district

collector to hear their petition and submit report which seems to be routine

work. “On paper, these appear to be the process of consultation and consensus

building, which gives touches of final strokes to the development decision

although reality is negative”(Dutta, 2007, p.94). The Land Acquisition Act did

not allow people to be heard until the acquisition proceedings started, at which

point it becomes difficult to challenge land acquisition procedures on the basis

of other efficacious or more economical alternatives (Appa & Patel, 1996).

The legislation is greatly influenced by the overarching principle enforcing

arbitrary State action. The gravest short coming of the act is that it pays

compensation in cash mode and bears no responsibility to resettle or

rehabilitate the displaced people. The recent amendment (1984) has given

provision for rehabilitation of the displaced but subject to the availability of

land. Still the enactment is not clear about rehabilitation, and provides

dominance to public purpose. The application of public purpose does not allow

decentralized participation even in scaling compensation.

In Kerala compensation is not delayed though authorities are concerned with

legal provisions of the law when they distribute compensation. People have

spent much of their compensation either to buy land outside the resettlement

area to avoid social stigma or to construct houses. The compensation is

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invested by the displacees unproductively (Case Study 3). Compensation was

inadequate to complete the construction of houses and we find incomplete

houses among the displaced resettlers (CIAL resettlement colonies). But a few

sections, those who are socio-economically forward seek justice; majorities of

the marginalized keep aloof from such means for want of awareness, social

support, determination and money power (Murickan, George, Emmanuel, Jose

& Pillai, 2003).

Socio-cultural and other community support systems should be quantified for

compensation. But mostly ignored, therefore, the principle of eminent domain

cannot be accepted without doing injustice to the displaced persons (Cernea,

1995b). Project ownership belongs to who invest capital but Cernea and other

eminent scholars suggest that the oustees who are deprived of their livelihood

should be partners and shareholders in the project. It needs, therefore, the

concept of Public purpose be defined and must rest on Government as a

mandatory responsibility not only before but also after the implementation of

the project.

Eminent domain has perverse effect on oustees. Preference to the ‘public

purpose’ over an individual’s interest may prove inadequate and yield

pernicious effects when applied not only to an individual but to an entire

communities because it is social body with structures and networks, with

common assets and public services (Cernea, 1999a). Thus eminent domain is

not concerned about restoring what makes a community as a community but to

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fragment community into individuals. It is rightly commended by Parasuram

(1999).

The law of (eminent domain) does not have any provision to determine the effect of public purpose on the person from whom the right or interests is being taken away…. In narrowing down the understanding of persons interested in the event of acquisition, in reducing every right and interest to a claim, in monetizing compensation, and in making compensation the only logical response within the scheme of acquisition, the law effectively reduced all issues to fit this frame. There is little space in this understanding…for resettlement and social justice (p.23).

Social justice can never be obtained in a legal vacuum, or under grey and

confusing regulations. For, “national laws do not provide a fully adequate

framework for development-oriented resettlement. New legislation, thus, must

be introduced, or existing laws must be modified, in order to plan and carry out

involuntary resettlement adequately” (Shihata, 1991, p.23) and to practice

social equity and social justice.

The term public purpose is inclusive and not exhaustive and the greater

common good or national interest in preference to communities forms a perfect

moral and legal justification for land acquisition by the State. After the

amendment, the state can master the land acquisition for non-public purpose

and sometimes even serve the private interests (Dutta, 2007). The latest

amendment in the Act gives provision of acquiring land for residential purpose.

Though the Act acknowledges about the plight of the displacees and need of

resettlement it does not make compulsory, but offers only if available. Only in

two places the act refers to making provision for grant of land to the displaced

persons. Firstly, the definition ‘public purpose’ includes making land for

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residential purpose of the poor or victims of natural calamities or persons

displaced or affected by reason of implementation of any scheme undertaken

by the Government, any local authority or a corporation owned or controlled by

the State. Secondly, provision of granting land to the displaced person is the

exercise of discretionary power by the district collector. The law does not

acknowledge displacement and its traumatic overtone, and does not mention

resettlement and is unwilling to take the responsibility of rehabilitation. The

only thing that can be distinctly felt in its rooted presence is its callousness,

arrogance and indifference towards the pain and suffering borne by the

displaced communities. Smithu Kothari (1996) points out that the way of life of

displaced persons in the post-displacement period has been a matter of lowest

concern for the project planners and in a majority of cases, the land acquisition

act. The sad fact is that ‘displaced persons of most of the development projects

were unable to socially rearticulate in the resettlement sites’ (Das, 2003,

p.100).

UNGP suggests that there should not be compelling and overriding public

interest to acquire land and displace. The overriding public interest, necessity

and proportionality determine whether forced displacement of a population as a

consequence of an infrastructure project is human rights violation or a

legitimate development project. The term ‘public’ has to be defined well

because whole population of the State comes under the purview of the term

public because we cannot limit it to economic and political elite of the country.

Development projects normally, as WCD (2000) commends, “produce benefit

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that accrue to groups other than those who bear the social and environmental

costs” (p.52). Land Acquisition Act helps Government to acquire land for

‘public good’ ‘even though a large section of the public does not receive any

‘good’ and faces the ‘bad’ part of losing the very basis of their survival.

Economic liberalization and scientific advancement can never eliminate the

concept of ‘eminent domain’. The Constitution and Judiciary of India side

together in pronouncing ‘right to property is not as fundamental right as some

other rights are’ (Bala, 2006). But application of public interest will assign the

responsibility to State Government to resettlement even if it is acquired for

private investments.

The land requiring body forms ‘haves’ of the society because they have the

power to use ‘public purpose’. “The people already live and works in the to-be

acquired space are invariably poor and uneducated. They are the ‘have-nots’

who have hardly any channels available to say ‘no’ to letting go of the

resources vital to their survival” (Jain, 2006, p.68). Project Affected Persons

may suggest alternatives to achieve public good but the acquiring body is not

concerned in listening to them. Therefore the public purpose requires two

things; capacity building of the stake holders and make avail of credible

platform for negotiations (Jain, 2006). Land Acquisition Act depletes the social

capital in various ways. It creates the market of have nots. “persons who own

no lands, no house, who have no other assets, those who have no special human

capital in terms of skills, education, beauty or physical powers or links with

social capital in terms of affiliation to social organizations and institutions

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cannot expect anything from the market and they cannot influence it in any

way” (Drydyk & Atiya, 2006, p.115). Thus market led economy will have no

place for have nots of the State which will lead to Marxian concept of world

with Haves and Have Nots. On the contrary we expect from the Government

of market led economy to balance the benefits of liberalization against the risks

and costs to the displaced people, in particular the vulnerable segments of the

population, habitat and public good, and in general in order to fulfill the

concept of welfare State.

In the light of new economic reforms and economic policies agencies instead of

ordaining, planning and carrying out actions have become mere sanctioning

authority and watch dog of development projects. This enables private agencies

to use variety of legal ways to get land they need for their business. They

follow a different logic than Government agencies, i.e., willingness to negotiate

but vulnerable to pressure from organized parties. Indian scenario is not

different from other countries, rather vulnerable and pathetic. Indian legal

systems are individualistic and therefore a challenge in the court is problematic

though frequent in displacement (Pandey, 1998).

Indian Land Acquisition Act provides provision for compensation at land

market value and not land-for-land replacement or replacement-value monetary

compensation (Mahapatra, 1999a). The Land Acquisition Act makes provision

for land owner criterion for compensation is market value. It has forgotten the

livelihood, not merely of the owner but of large number of others who depend

on it without necessarily owning it such as owner, his servants, the village

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artisans, the merchants who buy the produce etc.. The land which provides

them their life sustenance, food, fodder, medicine etc. not only a status symbol

of owners or income generating asset but it’s value is more than their price as

their life system attached to it. Loss of land causes break down of the recycling

system of income, employment, livelihood, disruption in social relationship,

age old religious cultural factors. The land acquisition has a legal standing, but

rehabilitation colonies has no legal standing in India. “Thus, ‘development’ has

not integrated the marginalized section into the capitalistic frame work but has

alienated them from it” (Jojo, 2003, p.10).

Since 1973 onwards project authorities extended liberal and lucrative

resettlement and rehabilitation measures to assist the affected people along with

cash compensation. The land acquisition act is under the concurrent list of the

Indian constitution. For Mridula Singh “in the absence of a Central Act on

Displacement and Rehabilitation, the whole process of dealing with the issue of

displacement remains ad-hoc and piecemeal, even today”(Qtd. in Verma, 2004,

p.68).

2.2.3 Other Enactments

1. The Railway Act of 1989 gives sanction to Railway Authority to acquire

land for the purpose of constructing or maintaining railway. The railway

administration has been given the authority to construct in or upon, across

under or over any lands, or any streets, hills, valleys, roads, railways,

tramways…as it thinks proper.

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2. Similarly Airport Authority of India Act was passed in 1994 by which the

power of compulsory acquisition of land has been prescribed. “For the

discharge of its functions under this Act is deemed to be for a public

purpose and Land Acquisition Act is invoked again for the Acquisition. The

statement by the State that a purpose is a public purpose is ultimate and

conclusive” (Ramanathan, 1995, p.147).

3. Access to Information RTI Act 2005. Though project can visualize that

risks will incur, the displaced populations were purposely deprived of

having any access to information about the projects.

4. The fundamental Rights of the Indian Citizens assured in the Indian

Constitution.

2.2.4 Resettlement and Rehabilitation Policy Implications

It was World Bank, for the first time that developed and enforced a policy for

development projects of the countries who are their partners. The developed

policy provided new guidelines for development projects. It rejects the

argument that the impoverishing resettlers were unavoidable; development

strategies should produce better outcomes; ultimate responsibility of borrowing

agency to resettle oustees and provide better standard of living; it recognizes

the concepts like, community structure, moving in groups, kin groups, cultural

identity, settler-host integration, social networks, social cohesion, dependency

syndrome, cultural meaning of leaving behind lands, deities and ancestors etc.

Providing new dimensions World Bank (2001) policy stressed: 1) avoid or

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minimize involuntary resettlement through appropriate technical choices, 2) if

displacement cannot be avoided, resettlement ought to be prepared, 3)

community participation in planning and implementation ought to be

encouraged, 4) hosts, as well as resettled, ought to be consulted to encourage

integration, and 5) valuation of assets should be at replacement cost.

Following the example of World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB) has

issued involuntary resettlement policy. The policy of ADB sets that

resettlement plan should be executed with appropriate time bound. Resettlers

should be fully informed and closely consulted on resettlement and

compensation options. Compensation to vulnerable sections should be

preceded in social preparation phase. Resettlement cost must be one of the

components of total costs and even if there is no legal title for the land where

from they are evacuated they should be adequately compensated.

2.2.4.1 National Resettlement and Rehabilitation Policy - 1997

As a result of up-roaring efforts of the social researchers, social workers and

activists etc. the central Government of India has planned to introduce

Resettlement and Rehabilitation Policy in the year 1998. Though national

policy on Resettlement and Rehabilitation has been issued by Rural and Urban

development Ministry of India in 1997, it was left without any peoples’

participation and dialogue. A draft of the same is disseminated to the public

for the discussion and to evolve sound and safe policy to address the emerging

needs of the country. As part of it, there were round tables and discussions took

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place and in the general agreement central Government of India decided upon

few but important aspects such as minimizing displacement, application of the

terms eminent domain, public purpose, participation of the affected persons,

historically advanced rights, compensation should be at replacement value not

the market value, common property resources and permanent income,

preventing marginalization, regional planning, rehabilitation is a right of the

displaced persons (DPs) and duty of the project implementers to the displacees

(Fernandes, 1995).

A revised form of the National policy on Resettlement and Rehabilitation has

been promulgated without dialogue or interaction with the concerned one and

people came to know about it from the newspaper advertisement on 26th

February 2004.

2.2.4.2 National Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R & R) Policy (2003)

Implications

The policy is applicable only to projects displacing 500 families in plain areas

and 250 in hills. Positively speaking, the policy tried to give broad definition to

Project Affected families including agricultural family, common property

resource dependent and landless people, but restricted the benefits to people

lived at least in the area for three years. Most importantly, on the one hand the

policy is applicable also to those displaced ten years prior to its promulgation

and on the other hand, the policy does not reduce the poverty risks, and neither

accepts rehabilitation as a right nor makes it mandatory, but says if the project

desires, i.e., recognized as a need. The policy does not create an avenue for

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social and physical infrastructure for rehabilitation but compels the project

affected families (PAF) to spend all their compensation to start their life afresh.

Policy, on the one hand, has no provision to control the trend to acquire more

land than required and, on the other hand, nothing is said about the prior

informed consent (Fernades, 2005).

The provision land for land subject to the availability of Government land in

the district, and relocation site free only to Below Poverty Line families which

is detrimental to the development of the displacees. The policy is based on

Land Acquisition Act amended in 1984 which favours private sector. It lacks

the sensitivity to the sufferings of the Displaced Persons/Project Affected

Persons (DP/PAP) and found the intrinsic opening to liberalization started in

the mid-1980 and formalized new economic policy in 1991. The policy of

rehabilitation is only to ensure that displacees’ struggles do not pose an

obstacle to project.

Instead of responding to the need to prevent impoverishment R & R 2003

legitimizes it by giving a semblance of benefits without the social and

economic infrastructure that rehabilitation requires. Public interest is to take the

place of the public purpose which helped project authorities to change

objectives after getting clearance.

The R & R Policy (2003) seems to be a bundle of confusion and contradiction.

On the one hand it makes enormous promises and safeguards the interests of

the oustees; on the other it continues endorsing the displacement of people even

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without rehabilitating them. It fails to cover policy contents, in five topics, as

suggested by World Bank; the first independent agency drafted and

implemented displacement policy; on involuntary resettlement, new land

settlement, induced development, indigenous people, and cultural property

(Fernades, 2005). R&R policy takes PAPs for granted and they do not have

any participation in the decision making process in the course of their own

future. R & R policy’s concept of displacement looks it as a norm and not as

an exception. It fails to address the problems of culture, religion, social

organization and community life.

2.2.4.3 Resettlement and Rehabilitation Policy (2007) Implications

In order to reduce the increasing pressure against the development projects

displacing millions of people the United Progressive Alliance Government’s

The Ministry of Rural Development has issued a notification on National

Policy on Resettlement and Rehabilitation on 31st October, 2007. The policy

accepts the basic principle eminent domain to acquire private property,

“leading to involuntary displacement of people depriving them of their land,

livelihood and shelter, restricting their access to traditional resource base, and

uprooting them from their socio-cultural environment. These have traumatic,

psychological and socio-cultural consequences on the affected populations

which call for protecting their rights” (National R & R Policy, 2007). The

policy calls for assessment of socio-economic impact (with 400 families and

above in project area) on displaced people, quantification of costs and benefits

that accrue to society at large, and of the desirability and justifiability of each

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project. But the policy fails to define what is meant by ‘society at large’. The

policy also fails to recognize communities and families below 400 and

individuals with integrity and rights. The social impact assessment is extended

to public and common properties like burial ground, water source and

recognized the need of their reestablishment in the resettlement site which is

not practiced in any development projects in the country in its full sense. It

calls for effective monitoring and grievance redress mechanisms but does not

describe what mechanisms and how it should be monitored. The policy sets its

objective as active participation of affected people in resettlement and

rehabilitation practice which becomes an oasis in the desert in Indian context

where the contradictory principle eminent domain is active. The policy treats

the oustees differently; people of en masse 400 above as one category and

below another category in relation to social reconstruction (rearticulation)

responsibility (7.22.2 & 7.22.4).

The policy directs the Resettlements and Rehabilitation administrator to make

necessary administrative arrangement for the resettlement and rehabilitation of

affected families but “the overall control and superintendence of the

formulation, execution and monitoring of the rehabilitation and resettlement

plan shall vest in the Administrator for Rehabilitation and Resettlement” (5.4)

which is also contradictory to the objective of the policy active participation

(2.1.b), harmonious relationship (2.1.f), and consultation with the

representatives of the affected families including women and representatives of

the requiring body (6.14.1).

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The policy approaches the resettlement positively by rehabilitating groups or

communities in groups which speeds up the social reconstruction of the social

capital. The policy made a drastic improvement than previous one (2004) by

accepting resettlement and rehabilitation schemes or plans as an integral part of

the cost of the project for which the land is being acquired. In earlier times the

resettlement and rehabilitation cost was borne by Government which may be

prime cause to increase the number of displaced but not resettled people on the

roll.

The policy directs the administrator to ensure the progress of the resettlement

before the actual displacement begins and shares the equity of the project with

displacees. The policy calls for benefit sharing (6.25) with the oustees and

projects affected people. The guidelines directs the project authority to use the

land only for specified project and if not, have to return to the persons from

whom the land is acquired which seems to be impractical but manipulated by

project authorities like CIAL converting the land to construct golf club and IT

parks.

The Government policy emphasizes equity, fairness, justice and equality on the

distribution of the burdens and benefits. It recognizes that the ‘displaced are

actually uprooted from the soil’ and adverse impacts of the involuntary

displacement are much wider than those just associated with loss of land.

“Thus, the oustees find themselves in a position of helplessness, powerlessness,

landlessness, placelessness alienated and most importantly joblessness which

diminishes the chance of sustainable livelihood” (Verma, 2004, p.266).

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The policies of World Bank, other agencies and National and State

Governments of India helped to avoid impoverishment risks among the

displacees. After long years of practice and experiment China has been able to

develop ideal resettlement policy with resettlement planning and regulations

which can protect the living standards of the displaced (Rew A. , 2005). Many

of the problems do indeed arise from bad practices, not from bad policy and

also substantial time lag between the uses of guidelines (Koenig, 2001). Public

consultation with local communities, policies promoted, helped to minimize

displacement. All policies are considered as Ad hoc to LAA. None of the

policies recognizes historically established right of the people to their

livelihood, natural resources etc. The existing policies lack legal wallop. No

policies are developed with the participation of the people.

Resettlement policy has become a matter of States in India. The officials say

that “if Delhi doesn’t take action why should our State obligate itself” (Cernea,

1999c, p.20). The contrary is that center has policy implemented timely but the

State Governments are not ready to promulgate the policy with necessary

adaptation. It is a matter of political will and bureaucratic excuses. Even if the

policies are passed they are not notified making use of legal loopholes of the

time.

The policy should look into the possibility of potentially affected to comment

in the planning process. In addressing social welfare risks especially

homelessness and social disarticulation no single appropriate strategy is

possible but different strategies are made use in different projects and they can

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be adapted in circumstances as required. “Reconstituting economic, socio-

cultural and political resources are more important over the long term because

it is through them that long term social welfare issues are met”(Koenig, 2001,

p.33). According to the policy individuals are eligible for compensation. The

emphasis on moving people as units reflected the strategy that promotes the

network of the oustees to reestablish. Such move helps to establish and

preserve social cohesion and ability to act together. Resettlement can either

promote vertical or horizontal networks. The vertical network takes place in

city based resettlement. Inadequacy of space in city may disperse oustees and

no longer in touch with each other to promote horizontal network. The

horizontal network is feasible when people are resettled in distance where they

can be one community. The vertical network may promote economic profit but

disperse horizontal network. There is a trade-off between individual choice and

moving units. People prefer the change of network when there is a need for

hierarchical move, for e.g., caste. The range of compensation option has

affected negatively social solidarity after resettlement. On the one hand

physical proximity may not bring individual into social network; People, on the

other hand, do their own part to reconstruct their socio-cultural network within

their limited circle. Celebration of marriage and feasts bring kinship and

neighbourhood relations more strong. The reunion of kin network provides

primary social insurance and bridges the bond.

An increased attention needs to be paid to relevance of changing versus

preserving the social networks, the individual marginalization and human

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capital formation (Pandey, 2000). Mathur & Marsden (1998) study reveals the

need of systematic inclusion of human capital and individual marginalization in

reconstruction. Availability of job opportunities, economic resources, and

income decide the direction of fares and festivals which are detrimental to the

unity and social network. When people are unemployed and struggled to

survive there is limited scope for reconstruction of social network. Hence site

selection is crucial in restoring employment, income and social network (Mejia,

1999). Job offering and its provision determine the social cohesion. If the

displacing agency is unable to provide job opportunities it must be able to

provide credit to displacees to find their own earnings or share the benefit with

them.

It is normally assumed that rehabilitation as the responsibility of the

Government and private sector, if it receives the grants of the State.

Compensation responsibility/liability has three levels. Some liabilities are

widely acknowledged - acknowledged liability; the other two liabilities are not

accepted by majority though scientific research found them valid and they are

possible liabilities and probable liabilities. In possible liabilities health and

social disarticulation and impoverishment impacts fall within the range.

Probable liabilities fall between the possible and acknowledged liabilities; for

example, liability for rehabilitation. To accept the emerging international

finance intermediary’s safeguarding policies on involuntary displacement it

requires a shift of probable liability to acknowledged liabilities. The emerging

trend is that Government is ready to accept new poverty as part of

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rehabilitation policy and include probable liability as acknowledged liability (R

& R Policy, 2007). A positive move from Government of India is that it tries

to implement ‘use right’ not ‘acquiring right’ to the development project

implementers. It is another way to accept direct economic and social impacts

of the project and not indirect impact. It should on the contrary, “if the

impoverishment would not have accrued without the project, then they are

project costs and must be factored in” (Downing, 2002, p.18). Moving a step

further in 2007 policy the Government of India is ready to accept all the three

liabilities/responsibilities as part of the development project. The reparation of

the hiatus in all aspects is falling on the shoulder of project implementers.

Lack of commitment in the policy is evident in its provision to ensure the

settlement of the affected preferably in group or groups and that too as far as

possible. It is a foregone conclusion that this will never be possible.

Resettlement is preferred in the host community but equality and mutual

understanding, consistent with the desire of each group to preserve its own

identity and culture is ignored. This will automatically disempower and

dispossess both host and resettled community. It seeks not to disturb the socio-

cultural relations (social harmony) but dislocates communities. Policy is not

concerned about the timely rehabilitation and human costs. One sided

decision and dialogue seems to be a means to convince people that their

displacement in fact is serving common purpose and serving nation’s

development but hides that they are victims to be sacrificed for the common

cause. It seems the benefits in the policy are out of charity and on assumption

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that people should adjust themselves to the situation once a decision to displace

them is taken.

Kerala, a land of high literacy rate and higher education, where houses are a

place of ego and lakhs of rupees are spent for construction of houses; health

services are of high standard and costly and health issues are greater

significant; English medium instruction is preferred; living cost is high and still

culture is significant and traditional life is more preferred to modern. This is

evident in the fares and festivals, celebrating the marriages traditionally with

extravaganza aiming to bridge the bond and to establish social networks. In the

absence of land for gathering, community halls and residents’ associations are

significant and matter of pride. Whether CIAL’s reconstruction mode

promoted socio-cultural networks and kinship bonds or not needs to be

enquired in-depth. Though “socio-cultural losses need to be judged in their own

terms as well as by their economic impact” (Koenig, 2001, p.37), economic

compensation alone cannot reconstruct the cultural loss.

Common property resources are collectively owned and utilized in a society.

They are sources for social cohesion and network. The depletion of common

property resources will affect the marginalized and weaker sections like aged,

women, and children etc. which unite people as one and help to vent their

feelings and emotions act as expression of culture in a community. For

example, the burial grounds in Kerala are place of passion and veneration to

forefathers who lighted their lamps. They are the place of sympathy and

sharing of intimacy but once they lose it; they are no more united.

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The developed policy frame work and its implications open avenues for

reconstruction. But the project of CIAL and of the present projects like ICTT

tells the stories of dismay. Resistance and agitation are the only source to

survive. Government is not ready to say ‘yes’ to National Policy (R&R) and

adopt it to its culture. Struggle to survive leads the people and has no time to

celebrate fares and festivals which link them and provide network to

reconstruct a society. We have to agree with what is stated by Dutta (2007) in

assessing national enactments and policies existing in the country.

The paradigm of development that has found favour with the planners makes displacement of large number of people, even the whole communities, as an unavoidable event. The utilitarian principle of maximum happiness for the maximum numbers has been invoked to lend respectability to making the lives of communities into a cost in the public interest, thereby throwing the displaced impoverished scum society into the abyss of death and destruction, as they bear the main brunt of national development. The law is ill-equipped to counter this attitude and in fact abets it by lending the force of State power (p. 135).

2.2.5 Social Capital/Costs

The concept of social capital was first used by L.J. Hanifan in 1916 seeing

regular contact between neighbours as accumulation of social capital (Gupta,

Gunnar, Hasse, & Maiti, 2008) and introduced to social science by Bourdieu

(1993) and Coleman and Putnam’s works (1993) gained wide appreciation.

Social capital features social life that enables people to act together more

effectively. Danny Unger says that sociability is a part of culture which helps

people to join and cooperate to achieve their goal (Qtd. in Bhattacharya, 2004,

p.17). In the relative absence of sociability social capital can even generate

cooperation. Both are mutually reinforcing i.e. social capital creates sociability

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and sociability adds to social capital. Robert Putnam, the most leading author

about social capital, states that social capital as those features of social

organizations - such as trust, norms, and networks - can improve the efficiency

of society by facilitating coordinated actions (Putnam, 1993). Social

organizations also include, rotating credit associations, trust, cooperation,

borrowing and lending of labour and tools within a farming community, and

other forms of mutual help formulating collateral and web of social

connections. Trust is central to the social capital. “James Coleman’s view of

social trust arises from the norm of reciprocity and networks of civic

engagements creating inter personal communication and exchange. The

network of civic engagements identified by Putnam – such as neighbourhood

association, cooperatives, sports clubs etc. - represents intense horizontal

interaction which is essential ingredient of this particular concept of social

capital” (Bhattacharyya, 2004, p.20). Thus social capital takes three forms:(i)

the obligations and expectations which rely upon the trustworthiness of the

social environment; (ii) the capacity of information to flow through the social

structure in order to provide a basis for action; and (iii) the presence of norms

accompanied by effective sanction (Gupta, 2008)

Putnam has developed narrow perspective on social capital; Coleman

developed a broader view, and World Bank has the most encompassing view of

social capital. Social capital is a dynamic category that can change over time.

Connectedness is an integral part of social capital

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Unlike other types of capitals, social capital is first, a moral resource whose

supply increases with the use, and becomes depleted if not used and second,

social capital represents a public rather than a private good. Thus social capital

can be defined as “stock of social trust, norms, and networks that people can

draw upon in order to solve common problems (Sirianni & Friedland, 1997)

which prompt us for network of civic engagement embodying obligations,

expectations, and trustworthiness of structures, information channels, norms

and sanctions (Jenny, 2002).

Associationalism as a major constituent of social capital plays significant role

in developing inner moral life of those who participate – bringing them closer

together externally, but it does not necessarily promote collective action.

Associationalism is always positively related to social capital and cumulative

of social capital is not a unilinear progressive process over time enabling

collective action, but it can be zigzag, reviving or regressing over time.

2.2.5.1 Types of Social Capital

“Social capital refers to the internal social and cultural coherence of society,

the norms and values that govern interactions among people and institutions in

which they are embedded” (Serageldin, 2006, p.i). There are three types of

social capitals and they are:

1. Bonding social capital is that which binds members of communities strongly to each other and therefore possibly makes it more difficult for them to transcend their group or communities and groups

2. Bridging social capital is that which enables individual to forge links with others in society regardless of descriptive affiliations.

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3. Linking social capital derives the ties between poor people, on the one hand and a variety of influential people in agencies, banks and schools, on the other (Swain, 2004, p.290).

Ashutosh Varsheny (2002) emphasises that bridging capital is more likely in

modern Indian condition as a means of transcending the limitations of

community based associational life. Bonding capital is the one, which brings

people together who are previously known to each other, whereas, bridging

capital helps people and groups to come together who previously did not know

each other (Swain 2004). Different kinds of associations will generate different

results, internally for its members and externally for the society. The social

capital terms such as trust, obligations, networks and norms as contributive

factors for economic development is an instrument for economic prosperity and

sustainable development. There is growing empirical evidence that social

capital contributes significantly to sustainable development. Social capital is

the glue that holds societies together and without which there can be no

economic growth or human wellbeing” (Serageldin, 1995, p.i). Anurudh

Krishna’s (2002) work suggests that while social capital significantly

associated with such outcomes - economic, social and political - social capital

alone neither explains the variations in any of these nor does it automatically

guarantee such outcomes. The constructible social capital represents a potential

for mutually beneficial collective action (Bhattacharyya, 2004).

2.2.5.2 Measuring Social Capital

Social cost, the value of social capital is not measurable but it includes

imponderable qualities, values and institutions of social solidarity, community

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morals and social ethics like equitable distribution, taking care of the aged,

infirm or the sick, kinship relations of reciprocity, obligations of exchange of

services, even down to informal baby-sitting or guarding over properties,

common concern and action for protection and favours by supernatural forces

affording mental security and self esteem. Immeasurable of social costs does

not mean forgettable. Social costs are project costs that are left to accrue to the

society outside the project as opposed to the project’s direct internal costs. It is

measurable and includes (but are not limited to ) all that is lost to the forcibly

displaced: land, house, trees, crops, jobs, productive time, cultural assets,

common property goods, shrines, places of prayer, burial grounds, and access

to social services etc. There are two forms of internalization of the social costs

in the project cost and they are: compensation to the displacees at replacement

cost and investment for facilitating recovery and accelerated take off for those

uprooted. The intangibility of the social variables is often used to excuse

valuation. Neo-classical theories have ignored social costs hoping care will be

taken by Government or private organization. For them social costs are minor

disturbance. The issues of equity and of the exclusion of persons, displaced by

development, are bound to become even more pressing and galling in near

future. In earlier projects social capital was not calculated rather ignored but

the inevitable element that should be incorporated into project budget.

Renata Serra (2004) made an attempt to measure Indian social capital making

use of indicators suggested by Putnam namely, Political Participation,

Membership in Associations, and News paper reading. Peter Mayer identified

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the Indian Civic Community Index components as following; Strong Society

Index, Credit Society Membership, Index of Opposition Unity, Average Lok

Sabha Turn Out, Newspaper Circulation. In India, Kerala stands well apart as

compared to other States. Putnam suggests that higher the civic sense higher

the levels of social capital and Kerala has denser networks of the choral

societies, sports clubs, corporative, mutual aid societies, trade unions, and

cultural societies. The richness of social capital depends on the levels of trust,

extent of interpersonal commitments, density of social capital networks,

number of tertiary associations, social homogeneity, political participation and

various levels of aggregation (Mayer, 2004). Paul Bullen (2008) has also

developed a scientific tool with defined criteria to measure the social capital of

the community that is closely related with the above said parameters. Still we

find the following difficulties to measure social capital in India

1. Finding appropriate measures for social capital in India due to greater

complexity of societal features.

2. Locating alternative indicators which could be used as proxy for civic

behaviour and valid for interstate analysis.

3. Interpreting statistical association between social capital and State

performance (Mayer, 2004, p.135).

2.2.5.3 Development-Induced Displacement and Loss of Social Capital

There exists discrepancy between the concept of development theory and

policy in the development projects. Dilemmas and tensions resulting from

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dialectic relationship between theory and policy of development engulf

Governments, especially of developing countries. The theories opt for poverty

reduction, redistribution of income etc, but in practice development projects

and programmes intended for the same are leading to impoverishment.

Development policies entail (R&R policy of India-2007) provisions for both

financial and socio-cultural costs but mostly they are over looked, ignored in

practice which is a recent development. They fail to preserve and create the

community life of the displaced population “instead, they are treated as a

collection of unrelated individuals in true bureaucratic fashion” (Mahapatra,

1991, p.126). The welfare State in the name of the development,

democratically elected Government, displaces people of a village, and interest

of the village community or a group of people, who may not be in a position to

derive much or any benefit from the project are sacrificed or at least are not

considered as having any measurable value being lost, in the event of the

implementation of the project. It can be due to two reasons: magnitude of

displaced population, and handling disastrously the displacement in the

development Projects.

The transfer of burden of social cost upon the oustees is unethical and unjust.

Development projects are a programmed death of villages and social assets. It

is ways of pronouncing obituary to the oustees (Cernea, 1999c). Development

caused dislocations have become ‘a cause caliber’ in India. International

agencies have provision for social costs and Government of India is ready to

accept in theory and not in practice. Though development is necessary and

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inevitable but its social costs are not necessary and inevitable. “They should be

reduced purposively, mitigated systematically, and when they cannot be

eliminated altogether they should be fairly carried by society in its entirety, not

by victimized group” (Cernea, 1999, p.8).

2.2.6 Social Disarticulation

Social disarticulation contains dispersing and fragmenting communities,

dismantling patterns of social organizations and scattering interpersonal ties

and kinship become scattered as well. Life sustaining informal networks of

reciprocal help, local voluntary associations and self-organized mutual services

are disrupted (Cernea, 2000b). He adds;

When people are forcibly moved, production systems are dismantled. Long cherished residential communities and settlement are disorganized. Life sustaining informal social networks providing mutual help is rendered nonfunctional. Trade linkages between producers and their customers’ base are interrupted, and local labour markets are disrupted. Formal and informal associations or self-organized services are wiped out by the sudden departure of their memberships, often in different directions. Traditional authority and management systems tend to lose their leaders. Abandonment of symbolic makers, such as ancestral shrines and grave or spatial context, such as sacred mountains, water courses, or trails, severs of physical and psychological linkages with the past and saps at the roots of the peoples’ identity. Not always visible or quantifiable, these processes are nonetheless real. The cumulative effect of all these processes is that the social fabric is torn apart (Cernea, 1991, p.293).

It is in this context we should read the verdict of the supreme court of India.

Before any development project is taken up, the social cost involved must be evaluated with a view to balancing the advantages…every developmental programme must provide for the simultaneous rehabilitation of the persons who are thrown out of their land and houses on account of acquisition of land for such development project. No development project, however laudable, can possibly justify impoverishment of large sections of people and their utter destitution. (Qtd. in Cernea, 2000, p.293)

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For “No trauma can be more painful for a family than to get uprooted from a

place where it has lived for generations and moves to a place it may be a total

stranger” (Woldeselassie, 2000, p.413) which points to economic

pauperization, political disempowerment, and cultural alienation. The

impoverishment has economic, psychological and cultural components and the

last aspect is studied less. For a few the weakening of sustainable culture is

named as dispossession and for a few it is deterioration of health and for others

it is cultural changes. Therefore Cernea included them in impoverishment risks

but Areeparambil (1989) termed it as ‘dispossession’ and Pathy (1999) as

‘marginalization’. All these refer to established fact impoverishment is not an

accident but intrinsic to displacement. “The successful livelihood strategies that

act as the basis for the resettlers’ adaptive readjustments and eventual socio-

economic differentiation include individually tailored production practices,

agricultural intensification, and household income diversification, recreated

and adapted networks of social relations, remittance, economization and

innovation” (Woldeselassie, 2000, p.425).

Involuntary displacement threatens to destroy the previous way of life of

resettlers and community’s social, political and religious leaders are often

powerless to prevent the disruption and disorder that occurs (Mathur, 1998).

Research has also documented that a feeling of powerlessness and alienation is

often engendered in those who are displaced, especially when entire

communities are uprooted from familiar surroundings. Fernades (1996) writes,

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The displaced persons and other marginalized categories internalize a sense of helplessness and powerlessness and because of their encounter with the powerful external world they are pushed into without adequate preparation. They also internalize the value system of the formal society that does not recognize their economy and culture, and begin to consider their own society and culture of little value (p.124).

Studies on Kerala’s displacement scenario bring out that the displacees are

forced to make immediate adjustments in life pattern and standard of living

facing a number of hostile conditions. Moreover they were compelled to

undergo mal-adjustment problems (Murickan, George, Emmanuel, Jose &

Pillai, 2003). This is directing to the social impoverishment that affects the

fabric of relocatees’ collectivities. Studies of Murickan, George, Emmanuel,

Jose & Pillai (2003) discloses,

That to the displacees of Kerala, their land and house meant everything where the family had lived for generations. The land and building may have been ancestral property to which they own emotional attachment. Their relationship to the local community, their social network system, all play very crucial roles in their life. Depriving them of all the belongings, all on a sudden with an uncertain future evoked fear, a sense of helplessness and despair among large sections of the respondents. It gave mal-adjustment problem to the displacees (p.229).

Therefore, T.Downing (1996) points, that impact of resettlement weakens or

dismantles vital social networks and life-support mechanisms of the families.

“The Authority systems” Downing argues, “are debilitated or collapsed.

Groups lose their capacity to self-manage. The society suffers a demonstrable

reduction in its capacity to cope with uncertainty. It becomes qualitatively less

than its previous self. The people may physically persist but the community

that was, is no more” ( Downing, 1996, p.34).

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The loss of economic order may not be primary reason for social

disarticulation, since signs of social disorder often appear before loss of

productive activities, as people begin to act in the light of what they believe the

future will bring. Home is often associated with profound loss of identity and

cultural impoverishment as the symbolic importance of place, in terms of

family cohesion and a remembered location for mutual support, not only from

the household but neighboring household, is disturbed. An integral part of

human culture is the attachment to existing conceptions of time and space and

ways in which they are prioritized. Societies often order them internally

through their relationship to space and resettlement disturbs this order

(Downing, 1996). Individual creates meaningful common identity through

their relationship to place and the artifacts they use to define space. The

heterogeneity of resettlers in the resettlement area affects the relationship

causing social disarticulation. Further kinship ties, inter-family dependence

and cooperation existing among the families of the displaced persons, social

and political organizations are found absent in the resettlement area (Ota,

2006). According to A.B. Ota “the social organizational structures, the

dispersion of informal and formal networks, associations etc. constitute

expensive but unquantified social losses, causing social disarticulation” (Ota,

2001, p.4). Thus elusive process undermine livelihoods in ways uncounted and

unrecognized by planners and are among the most pervasive causes of enduring

impoverishment and disempowerment (Cernea, 1995a) and social

disarticulation also results from the disintegration of authority systems and loss

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of leadership, self-management and social control weaken or collapse, resulting

in anomalies and an increase in deviant behaviours.

Studying effect of development project on Social Structure of Singrauli region

Manish Kumar Verma (2004) writes,

Displacement has torn apart the social fabric of Singrauli region and destroyed the very platform on which the social aspects rest for stability. Before the inception of the project to the locality, the boorish people were living in an atmosphere of peace and tranquility. The egalitarian poor community had full honour for family values and was well away from the dexterous and cunning cultures of the cities. But the sudden invasion of this homogenous civilization by an alien selfish culture has totally shaken the community. Those who were earlier living in affluence and as a fraternity have fallen prey to scarcity, chaos and turmoil. Availability of scarce resources and the acute competition among the poor villagers gave birth to treachery and jealousy, which in turn smashed the social culture of the society (p.298).

The breakdown of social systems established since time immemorial due to

displacement has taken away their life sustaining sources which forced to climb

down from their living standard. The social capital lost through social

disarticulation is typically unconceived and uncompensated by programmes

causing it and real loss has long-term consequences. It unravels the existing

pattern of social organization. The loss of access to community service is also

concerned with lost or delayed opportunities for the education of children. The

problem of displacement, caused by developmental projects, is not merely a

geographical issue, but invariably resulted in uprooting and dismemberment of

socio-economic and cultural webs of life built over generations. Displacement

also brings social and cultural dislocation along with economic loss leading to

lose their traditional mechanisms of social control, leading to social tensions

and problems among them such as alcoholism, crimes, suicides, prostitution

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and delinquency mushrooming rapidly in their traditional society

(Woldeselassie, 2000). Thus, we can say that the net loss of valuable social

capital or social disarticulation compounds the loss of natural, physical

economic and human capital.

2.2.6.1 Displacement- Scenario of Social Exclusion and the New Poverty

Social exclusion, for Amartya Sen (1982), is against the very nature of

development which is defined as increase in the freedom. Therefore, “there is

no reason to accept spatial rearrangements and their pernicious consequences

with resignation as an ineluctable tragedy” (Cernea, 2000c, p.12). If

impoverishment is the looming risks in displacement, the challenge is to

organize risk prevention and provide safeguards. It is stated by the authorities

that the displacement and rehabilitation are planned but the aftermath of the

displacement, impoverishment, which, Theodore E. Downing (1999) termed

creation of New Poverty need not be necessary. “In fact”, Mathur writes,

“planner’s view of projects as a means of eradicating poverty make little sense

to those who lose their lands and livelihood….Development programmes are

increasingly being seen as inimical to people’s interests and responsible for

their worsening, not improving situation” (Mathur, 1998, p.134). The nature of

development, the freedom, can increase the benefits of the development

reached to public and displaced community by eliminating some of its

avoidable pathologies when displacement is planned. It needs socially

responsible resettlement; resettlements genuinely guided by an equity compass

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to counter act lasting impoverishment and generate benefits for both national

and local economies.

The five year plans of the India have drawn to fulfill the objective - higher

productivity with social justice. But each displacement is a denial of social

justice emerged out of conflict between power and powerlessness. For,

displacees are forced to enter the mainstream as cheap labour and not as

beneficiaries of its products. They are in a state of dispossession (Fernandes &

Asif, 1997) because as their work load increases social status deteriorates. It

needs socially and economically responsible resettlement to prevent

impoverishment and brutal violation of human rights which is evident in the

absence of policy, agreements, and supervision.

Amartya Sen (1982) in his concept of endowments, entitlements and capacities

made an inquest, why people starve in times of plenty and he reached the

conclusion that systems can legally allow people to starve. Later Sen argued

that it is because of closed, undemocratic denial to people the knowledge about

their rights (their endowments) and therefore access to their rights, and

disallow them the opportunity to transform those endowments into

entitlements. Based on the assessment, social preparation and identification of

vulnerable groups, entitlements are defined. “Entitlements include the range of

measures, including compensation, income restoration, transfer assistance,

income substitution, training, benefits and other actions due to affected people -

depending on the nature of their losses - to restore their economic and social

base” (Downing E. , 2002a, p.13). So poverty is the absence of entitlements to

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own and transform opportunities. This may point to the new poverty pointed by

Theodore E. Downing (1996), which is equal to Cernea’s concept of

impoverishment or cumulated deprivation - economic, social, cultural and

psychological capitals and rights. Disorganized and delayed compensation

compel people to sell their assets and sustain their livelihood leading to

economic and social disarticulation.

It becomes new poverty when restoration of the displaced into prior condition

at least failed. For, neither rehabilitation nor sustainable development has

become goal of relocation but compensation. “Various studies indicate that

involuntary resettlement under development projects, if unmitigated, often

gives rise to severe economic, social and environmental risks” (Fernades &

Thukral, 1989, p.245). All the more it snatches away the possibility of a

community to be sustainable, to improve human well-being over the time, with

the goal that children’s lives be as good as, or better than, their parents.

Failure to mitigate or avoid IRR risks may generate ‘new poverty’ as opposed

to ‘old poverty’. Poor people do become even poorer. This is measured in

terms of daily survivability and human dignity and its long term impacts.

Avoidance of new poverty will clearly come from arranging sufficient

financing and moving beyond compensation to an equation based on

“compensation + investment + stand-alone financing” (Mathur, 2006, p.8). It

means investment options include foundations, benefit-sharing schemes,

education development, grants and small business development leading to

sustainable development. This may be politically premature to the

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Governments of the developing countries and what is possible is not to deny

possible and probable liabilities into acknowledged liabilities by all companies,

Governments, and financiers. “When poor and very poor people are displaced,

simply ‘restoring them’ or ‘rehabilitating’ them to their pre-project levels

means only restoring them to prior poverty. Today, ‘restoring to prior poverty’

sounds nothing less than absurd in the context of development project or a

general strategy for development and poverty reduction” (Cernea, 2006, p. xix).

This leads to economics of resettlement. Accepting Impoverishment Risk and

Reconstruction Model of Michael M. Cernea as foundation in displacement and

reconstruction studies Theodore E. Downing proceeds further to caution that

restoration of the displaced to their prior economic and social condition is

ineffective unless it aims at sustainable development. But Downing dares to

argue that rehabilitation at least or sustainable development must be goal of

displacement. Compensation can never restore to prior status of the displaced,

and what needed is insurance to protect involuntary displaced from

impoverishment, otherwise will destine them ‘in the way’ (Downing, 2002).

2.2.6.2 Social Disarticulation and Social Geometry

Displacing people by development projects and social impoverishment (social

disarticulation) seems incongruous, if not grotesque. Social impoverishment

starts with the terminological analysis of term social. For Downing break of

economic system and its recovery, poverty alleviation, need not be reason for

social impoverishment.

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Social disorder commences or signs of disorder appear before the actual displacement of a community. While resettlers find job boom in the new sites the non-displaced community undergoes transformation of productive activities without radical social disorders associated with resettlement. The political and economic dimension of restoration is possible when unnoticed hidden subtle social aspects are concentrated (Downing, 2002a, p.234).

Mitigating impoverishment begins by reconstructing the social geometry of the

displaced in a culturally appropriate manner. Resettlement rips routine

relations of social time and social space, but often ignore dimension of culture.

Resettlement appeals to the people to answer the questions, where are we?

Who are we? This leads to the concept of social geometry consists of space-

time continuum, infinite intersections of socially constructed space, socially

constructed times and socially constructed personages (Downing, 2002b). For

in local culture groups’ self identity is related with their knowledge of their

local environment. The spatial-temporal orders of each culture vary from time

to time and space to space which is very vivid in the indigenous people. The

construction of time depends on their culture and tradition. Time is divided as

linear and lunar, and temporal and spatial order split such as national, regional,

local etc. The concept of social geometry shows the properties of spatial

(second, minute) and temporal (yard, neighborhood) which may be temporally

sequenced in order. The concept of social geometry may be intangible but

really constructed by human experience and not by structures. Downing

(2002a) suggested that examination of properties of spatial-temporal orders or

social geometry will create better understanding of social capital or social

disarticulation. The properties are: multi dimensionalities, behavioural

ordering, moral ordering - enculturation, imbeddness, dissatisfaction with

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existing orders – reproducing childhood spatial arrangement in adulthood

contrasting attachment to space and time and control of manipulation and

recreation of structures of land.

The socio-temporal order can predict the priorities and meaning and its

destruction may direct to the social chaos, meaningless and uncertainties or

lead to ethnocide (Barabas & Miguel, 1996). Thus,

Involuntary relocation overloads a society with uncertainties and disorder….From the perspective of social geometry, social dislocation accompanied by involuntary resettlement may change some of the spatial and temporal dimensions which define a people’s identity, threaten intangible spaces and moral order, modify behaviour orders, set new priorities and have a differential impact on people depending on their age, sex and rank (Downing, 2002a, p.39).

Therefore, Resettlement Action Programme / Plan should orient not only to

sustain existing patterns of group organization and retaining access to cultural

properties but also introduction of element of temporally reducing social costs

by making the move as quickly as possible. Avoiding temporary holding

facilities will reduce the social impoverishment effect. It requires purposeful

repairing of fractured social geometries which require stepping out of narrow

development policy. It requires solid, innovative ethnographic work to

complement aerial photography, conventional mapping, demographic surveys,

and socio-economic census via interactive involvement of displacees and

cultural analysts which is absent in countries like India. Downing suggests

positive actions to reduce social impoverishment which includes: field reviews,

social geometric analysis, theory building, open dialogues, refinement of

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operational indicators for project performance, and determination of rates of

return (Downing, 2002b).

2.2.6.3 Social Disarticulation and Value System

The value system of the communities is one of the social assets contributing to

the coherence and unity among the members. The values system plays a pivotal

role in developing identity and uniqueness of a community. Displacement had

led further to social stratification. Those families, which earlier used to be

cohesive and united and upheld family values and culture, were now a burning

example of family quarrel and enmity. Most of the displacees belong to

subaltern classes and are thrown into mainstream society - upper society, which

compel them to devalue their own culture and accept dominant value systems

that subordinate them in status - without adequate information and training.

Verma (2004) writes,

Through interaction with the outsiders in the project township, men from the subaltern classes absorb the dominant consumerist value system as a step towards upward social mobility…. Due to change in social structure, consequent change in values, beliefs, customs, traditions and culture is observed. The old values guiding the natal ties, family relationship breaks down…. Beliefs attached with the place, rituals and religious deities also get affected. The age-old cultural practices like holi, dipavali… and other regional customs also receive some kind of change. Dressing pattern, education systems, access to T.V, radio, etc. also showed some impact on cultural change…. The relationship between elder and the children, the generation gap, respecting elders, etc., have changed dramatically. In a broader cultural sense, homelessness is placelessness, loss of groups’ cultural space and identity…. Moving from rural to urban culture due to personal interest and cut-throat competition affected bonding and natal ties among the community members of the same locality. Values like participating in social and cultural events of sorrow and pleasure, helping in need etc are ebbing from the society blended with increased generation gap. The spirit of respect and regard to elders was completely neglected in new scenario after displacement. The limited space in the resettlement

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poured venom on the people’s freedom. The deep-rooted attachment to ancestral properties is a cultural break. Inculcation of modern values and beliefs changed the feelings of the residents towards traditional rituals attached with religion and calendar. Now the residents have no time, money, patience or resources to celebrate these festivals on the same scale that they used to do earlier. Turmoil and upheaval brought about in the region have destroyed family values and consequently the prestige and honour attached with the senior citizens and family member. Thus displacement and resettlement has led to a downward mobility and marginalization leading to social disarticulation of the oustees (p.300).

Creation of self-reliance and of Reference Group in the path to imitate lifestyle

of the outsiders may take place in the resettled community which may lead to

the experience of social and cultural degeneration and the concepts like values,

ethics, morals, etc. are over thrown by greed, temptation and hunger, breach of

trust, etc., to generate selfish society as aftermath. When criticized of the above

reason the authorities reaffirm that ‘displacees are compensated’ but they

ignored compensation for the breakup of community systems and other forms

of attack on people’ livelihood and culture (Fernandes & Raj, 1992). Thus,

forced displacement epitomizes social exclusion of oustees out of a set

functioning of social networks (Cernea, 2000a). Studying marginalization of

displaced tribes of Orissa, Walter Fernandez found that deterioration in their

social status and psychological attitudes is vivid. They are compelled to

internalize the value systems of a formal society that does not recognize their

economy and culture (Fernandes & Paranjpye, 1997a).

Renee Hirschon (2000) has also noticed the importance of house and family,

power of neighbourhood opinion, and housewife’s role in collaborative and

cooperative activities between households through contacts between the

women to promote integration of households and network and value systems.

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Neighbourhood has a pivotal role in creating ‘spotless slum’ in the resettlement

colony. Renee (2000) in the displacement and resettlement studies states that

there were no individual or social pathologies and community life was strong,

the maintenance of cultural practices and values was an essential element in the

resilience displayed by these uprooted people. Maintenance of family structure

and stability and of the values pertaining to men’s and women’s roles, and role

of religion and ritual were endowed the life with a meaning even in the face of

traumatic disruption and loss. As the women to spend more time on

employment they have to discontinue breastfeeding and reduce child rearing

time. Ramaiah says, “Several women in four resettlement groups stated that

they were forced to work throughout the year to supplement income of other

male household members in order to meet financial needs of the family thus

reducing child rearing time” (Qtd. in Hirschon 2000, p.395). It sometimes

worked against constitutional norms and assured right to life with dignity

(Fernades, 1996).

2.2.6.4 Social Disarticulation and Networking

Social network is a mechanism to generate social capital. Social network may

enhance the capacity to cooperate effectively and efficiently. Social network is

the objective existence of social capital while ties of trust and norms of

reciprocity represent its subjective part. Social networks formal or informal

enhance the group’s capacity to join together in collective action to address

common problems, or pressurize the authority to address these issues.

Woldeselassie (2000) studying the labour exchange modes existed in a resettled

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community pointed that it was central feature in contributing networking of the

community. Social network through labour exchange has created social

rearticulation. The multipurpose mutual help association within the village

community also contributed to the articulation. Mutual religious festive

associations mainly among the followers of orthodox churches are also vivid

and contributed to the rearticulation (Brown, 2000). The loss of reciprocity

networks directly worsens the corollaries of poverty-powerlessness,

dependency and vulnerability (Cernea, 2000a; Mohapatra, 2004). For

resettlement weakens or dismantles social networks and life support

mechanisms for families.

A rich associational life signifies a good social capital in a society. Social

capital is fundamentally about the connectedness, but not necessarily all kinds

of engagements in society. An engagement that contributes to building trust

among people, increases the predictability of behaviour, and promotes

collective action included in horizontal networks (Mohapatra B. N., 2004). It is

the smaller networks that contribute to the collective efficiency. The more

local, social and cultural ties are mutually reinforcing; the more likely people

are to engage in collective defiance. When social ties have both bonding and

bridging traits they mutually reinforce each other and Kerala is a fine example

of this (Sen, 1997). Cox & Jimenez, (1990) say,

Household networks help to cope with poverty through informal loans; exchange of food, clothing and durable goods; mutual help with farming, building houses and caring for children. Household networks pass around large amounts of money, goods and services, and may substitute public subsidies. The dismantling of such multifunctional, yet virtually invisible

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social networks by displacing acts as one of the hidden but real causes of impoverishment. This is loss of social capital. It is difficult, and takes time to reconstitute similar social structure and network among resettlers and their hosts (p.99).

Whatever may be the ethnic communities social networks help the new arrival

adjustment to the new setting, but they prevent their rapid integration into the

larger society. Thus we can say that dislocation/displacement or

relocation/resettlement in another area, unless very carefully executed, means a

breakdown in community network.

2.2.6.5 Social Disarticulation and Social Organizations

Suanne Hoeber Rudolph (2004) borrowing Townie’s concept of gemeinschaft

and gesellschaft (former is organic, affective and the later is rational,

contractual) and Tocqueville’s concept of natural and voluntary (natural-

ascribed, primordial- related to family, lineage, religion, and ethnicity and

voluntary- freedom allows individuals to choose their identity) states that

“though private and social associations are creating the moral capacity to act, in

the habits of collaboration the public spirited citizen is one who thinks

primarily of the civil society as the object of his obligations, not of the

members of his family, or his village, or his party, or his ethnic group, or his

social class, or his occupation because not all forms of associations qualify for

social capital formation” (Suanne, 2004, p.99). Kerala is enriched with a

thriving associational life and swarming with voluntary associations based on

religion, culture, caste, class affiliation, political groups and so on. The

number of these groups in Kerala is much higher than any other Indian States.

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According to Agora Survey, more than half of the Kerala populations are

members of any association. Nearly 28 per cent have been part of the village

development association on, 33 per cent of youth association, 20 per cent of

caste base associations and 25 per cent of professional associations. Morning

tea shop is public sphere. The contribution of vigorous civic associational life

to social development and collective action in Kerala is undisputable.

Anganwadi is a source of interaction and mahila mandal is another sphere. As

Agora survey confirms, “People in Kerala have strong bond within their

community and at the same time, that bond does not restrict them from

interacting with groups outside. Strong bond with their own caste or clan

members has not prevented them from interacting with groups outside - larger

networks created” (Agora Survey, 2003). It is this socially enriched, culturally

enhanced society which is displaced for development projects breaking its

vibrancy and dynamism leading to dismantling the previous authority systems

and weakening the self-mobilizing capacity of the community and tends to

induce helplessness and social apathy. Limited access to schooling and

transport facilities had significant influence on displaced community. They

were compelled to gather together and agitate for the civic amenities in the

resettlement colonies which help the formation of association among the

displacees. Self-organization within the new settlement is indispensable for

relocation with development. “The social organization of the project area, in its

formal and informal aspects, constitutes a crucial variable of the development

environment that may remain invisible if there is no social analyst to draw it

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out”, says Conrad Kottak (1991, p.431) after evaluating some of the

implemented development projects.

The community level self-productive organizations can be reemerged and

further strengthened mainly based on the mutual support which may increase

the potential to become socially organized and economically productive in the

new settlement. It needs informed strategies for economic development. Each

project must have a socially informed and culturally appropriate design and

implementation strategy invoking social engineering. Social engineering refers

to formation of groups, leadership, participation in decision making, intra-

group structures, incentives, penalties, communication, benefit distribution, and

so on (Cernea, 1991a). Social engineering is as important as technical or

financial or economic consideration. Conrad’s study (1991) reveals that a

socially engineered projects’ economic return is twice as high as those of the

socially insensitive and inappropriate projects. Socio-cultural planning for

economic development is not simply socially desirable; it is demonstratively

cost-effective. Appropriate social design for implementation and sensitivity to

social issues also has financial benefit. It all requires putting people first in the

development.

Putting people first means: eliciting those needs for change that they perceive; identifying culturally compatible goals and strategies for change; developing socially appropriate, workable, and efficient design for innovation; using, rather than opposing existing groups and organization; drawing on participants’ informal monitoring and evaluation of projects during implementation; and gathering detailed information before and after implementations so that socio-economic impact can be accurately assessed (Cernea, 1991b, p.40).

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2.2.6.6 Social Disarticulation and Gender Imbalances

“The land is not ours, the forest is not ours, and water is not ours - what then is

ours? They either belong to the Government or to the men. What do we get

when all these are taken away?” (Saxena, 2006, p.29). Development-induced

displacement and resettlement often affects the economically, politically, and

socially most vulnerable and marginalized groups in a population. However, at

the individual and community levels, impoverishment risks associated with

resettlement can be felt more intensely by certain segments of the displaced

population. Both genders have not been benefited equally in displacement and

resettlement and mostly women have been victims of marginalization. It is

found that women have not benefited from development in the same ways as of

men and gender imbalance was high in the development projects of India.

Studies prove that displacement increased stress among women. They were

disempowered financially, i.e. lost control over money given to their families

as compensation, their ability to produce food is reduced, dependency on

family is increased due to dependency over the family and fertility rate of

women was also reduced after the displacement (Thangaraj, 1996). Few

studies show that women did not have right for housing and compensation in

the resettlement package, though they lost their property (Freeny, 1995).

Women were dependent and job opportunities were less for them. Pandey

(1998) has rightly commended that “women were reduced to the position of

chattels looking after household chores only” (p.5). Widows have no right to

claim their own housing right (Hansungule, Feeney, & Palmer, 1998). There

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increased differentiation between men and women on secondary resources.

There is a negative impact on women with reference to productive assets

(Pandey, 2000). Most of the women preferred urban resettlement to rural

resettlement which offered more freedom and participation. Participation was

automatically denied due to their work load and multiple obligations of family

and work. Participation in resettlement activities by women was less because of

their occupation in both domestic and productive work. As compared to men,

women are less interested in keeping vested interests and more open to social

change and interaction.

After conducting a comprehensive study on various development projects and

resettlement issues Parasuram (1999) has said that “vulnerable sections

especially women had negative impact on their life style and access to

traditional way of life. But it also benefited to them accessibility to such as

fetching water, flour mills etc.” (p.139) and they preferred new social

organizations and cultures which provide ample venues for their expression and

mobility.

Displacement affected partner relationship especially to women and were left

alone in the houses (Cernea, 1991a). Compensation payments are usually paid

to the heads of households, which can concentrate the cash value of family

assets in male hands, leaving women and children at higher risk of deprivation.

Other research has shown that, in urban development projects, women can be

harder hit by displacement because they are more likely to derive income from

small businesses located at or near their residences. In rural areas, women can

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be more adversely affected because they are often more dependent than men on

common property resources for income sources (Baboo, 1992).

For children, Cernea notes resettlement often interrupts schooling. In many

households, owing to drops in income and living standards, children may never

return to school, instead being drafted into the labour market earlier than might

otherwise have occurred (Cernea, 2000b). Other groups, such as the elderly and

the disabled, might also face higher risk intensities in the displacement and

resettlement processes, although, as for the other groups, the conditions of the

project, resettlement procedure, and resettlement sites play a role in

determining which groups, if any, experience different and more intense risks.

The protection and security are very important for children and women who are

more susceptible to health related problems and vulnerable to other social

maladies. The impact is heavy among the marginalized and vulnerable sections

of the society. “For both indigenous and non-indigenous communities, studies

show that displacement has disproportionately impacted on women and

children” (Courtland, 2000, p.115). Development projects created a dent into

the peaceful life of the people and brought turmoil along with dependency

syndrome. Dependency syndrome and the inheritance are two most burning

problems exist among the displacees.

The socialization of the children was disrupted. Manish Kumar scribes “M-TV

culture has deeply affected their minds and to imitate that borrowed culture,

children are ready to do anything” (Verma, 2004, p.160). The absence of space

for common gathering and play ground in resettlement area adversely affect the

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living conditions of the children along with unhealthy environment. Women

find caged at completely strange place surrounded by various social and

cultural evils. Women were victims of eve teasing to rape. Privacy was

another problem of the displacees where they had no roof over their head as

they were forced out of their houses (Verma, 2004).

The gender oriented studies of Agnihotri (1996) and Pandey (1998) disclose

the blatant discrimination of women and children. Studies of Pandey & Kumar

(2004) state that a woman of 30 years and men of 18 years are equally treated

as same. “It is disheartening that, even today, our planners regard women as the

mere dependents of men and women are not recognized as separate

entity”(Verma, 2004, p.40). The discrimination speeds up impoverishment and

poverty of different kinds. The vulnerability of women due to displacement is

evident in the studies of W.Fernades (1990), Mahapatra (2000b) and Cernea

2000a). The added risk of educational loss to the IRR by Mahapatra discloses

the limited commitment to future generation by the Project Management

(Mahapatra, 1999). Studying Gender issues in State Road Projects, Parthapriya

Ghosh states that

Women constitute half of the project affected people and women faced hardships and continued in the same condition till the families revert to the previous living standards. The deficiency in civic amenities had inflicted the women and weaker sections of the society. The availability of the water, electricity, cooking gas etc was remarkably decreased from earlier phase of the life. Apart from loss of the security and insurance two additional negative impacts are inserted upon women and vulnerable sections of the society. Women suffered from an increase in domestic violence, while their children suffered the long-term consequences of suspended or curtailed education. The authority and right they enjoyed as

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income earners in decision-making was weakened after displacement (Qtd. in Downing, 1999, p.12).

The issue of entitlement is much discussed by social anthropologists and social

workers but did not receive adequate attention. Fernades writes, “A deserted

woman has not even been referred to in any of the State policies though in the

court she can file for claim in the monetary compensation received by husband.

Much is being said about improving the status of women but in actual fact

women have no place in the al scheme of things” (Singh, 1992, p.15-16).

Therefore, relocation must be studied in its social context to understand the

change in gender relations that can improve economic and social opportunities

for women. Women and households headed by them are likely to suffer more

than men since the compensation is often paid to men, households headed by

women usually have fragile economic status, and women have limited access to

support services. Numerous studies on DID on urban projects suggest that

urbanization often affects the economically, politically and socially most

vulnerable and marginalized groups in a population. Particularly urban poor

has been characterized by cultural alienation, dispossession of land and

resources, lack of consultation, insufficient or a complete lack of

compensation, human rights abuse and lowering of living standard (Cernea,

2000b).

Resettlement studies including in India (Pandey, 1998) suggest that aged are

more vulnerable to various risks and young take advantage of resettlement. The

resettlement compensation created ideological differences among the oustees

on age base. Most of the resettlement packages, offered job opportunities for

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educated young people than aged or head of the family which generated

conflict among family members. The elderly faced difficulty to cope with new

situations of resettlement colonies which leads to tension in the family. The age

differences led to conflict even in the village. In few cases, it instigated social

mobility and means to over throw the social inequalities of caste system

(Mahapatra, 1999b).

To overcome such impacts projects should necessarily consult with vulnerable

sections, especially women and offer them choices in enabling them to make

informed decision for their own development particularly in planning,

monitoring and other activities of reconstruction which would provide

opportunities for their sustainable socio-economic development. The

vulnerability can be minimized by the practice of innovative, flexible and

adaptive practices by field officers, active and intimate association of

implementers with Project Affected Persons such as distribution of brochure in

local language on policy and project, periodic orientation on R & R to staffs,

continuity of key project staffs, constitution of project resettlement and

rehabilitation committee, construction of free houses for vulnerable sections,

constitution of separate land acquisition cell with participation of officers and

people’s leaders, inter departmental coordination, involvement of professional

NGOs, grievance redressal mechanisms, management of information system,

special concern and programme for women, and employment opportunities

(Billiness, 2000). Guggenheim's (1993) discussion of Mexico's Zimapan Dam

Project highlights that, at first, women were common participants in

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community consultations because their husbands were working away from

home for the agricultural harvest. The women's demands changed resettlement

plans to include not only land compensation but also credit to open sewing and

baking enterprises. However, once the consultations began producing tangible

results, men began attending in place of their wives.

2.2.6.7 Social Disarticulation and Class

The availability of resources (social, political, economic and cultural) and

access to the same determine the class structure and mobility in the

resettlement community. As compared to weak and marginal sections of

society, rich and self resettled communities have better chances to exert control

over their new social and physical environment. Resettlement, sometimes,

leads to equilibrium which is evident in the case of land distribution. But no

displacees on the resettlement colonies have improved the previous state. On

the contrary people become poorer than earlier. Pandey rightly stated, “They

lost soil under their foot due to structural change in terms of political and social

status and influence in the society. If greater equality occurs after resettlement

but without planning, it is usually because everyone gets poorer, not because all

have more” (Pandey 1998, p.122). Thus resettlement brings a change in

existing situation which can be planned or unplanned. Decreasing status may

also put them below the other locals who used to be their peers (Mahapatra,

1999a).

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Resettlement speeds up the fall of national stratified community to bottom

lines. This can be limited when elite displacees are promoted to work for the

betterment of the oustees and their own ends. Such efforts will lead to social

cohesion which will result in improvement in livelihood and not opportunities

of the poor to uplift the existing situation rather keep the status quo. Therefore

“strategies for change that encourage cohesion of entire resettled communities,

across class, might offer more opportunities for reconstituting than those that

concentrate uniquely on the poorer, more vulnerable segments”( Koenig, 2001,

p.57). According to John Gaventa (1999),

Displacement will bring triple foundations of unequal society. The first one is legal equality combined with denial of access to the poor. The second is according access to few individuals, without making a dent on the system that excludes the majority. The third is creation of double alienation of the few who survived till the end” (p.22).

The displacement has opened an atmosphere of openness allowing the upper

and lower caste to work together, which bridged the distance and also initiated

healthy interaction between the one time hostile communities. Thus

displacement and resettlement has diminished the caste distinction and

discrimination through interaction and promotion of inter-caste marriage

(Pandey, 1998).

The displacement created two conflicting classes as envisioned by Karl Marx.

These two classes were competing for the scarce resources available to them

and fought for supremacy in the region. It produces social alienation of the

oustees. Social alienation denotes the estrangements of individuals and others

deep rooted in the social structure. “The term alienation stands for any feeling

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of separation from, and discontent with society, feeling that there is a moral

breakdown in the society; feeling of powerlessness in the face of he solidity of

social institutions; the impersonal, de-humanized nature of large-scale and

bureaucratic organizations” (Verma, 2004, p.201). Mridula Singh substantiates

it writing, “They have no longer access to the resources they were dependent

upon prior to their displacement. Their skills and their lifestyle had been built

around a resource base available to them. Displacement has put them at a

further disadvantage because those traditional skills are no longer of any use”

(Singh & Samantaray, 1992, p.17).

Poverty alleviation, which was at least an ideological commitment till the early

1980, has ceased to be even a political slogan after the new economic reforms

in India. Middle class by and large, in India, is consumerist society. The

satisfaction of the middle class needs is perceived as national development and

dissent against consumerism is perceived as anti-national. Middle class support

in India to the communities, whose livelihood is threatened, cannot be taken for

granted, especially in the States like Kerala which achieved incomparable

development in quality of life and standard of living. Most of the projects in

India have concentrated the middle class or poor who achieved not much

remarkable progress in the country. Rather these projects helped the upper class

to take maximum profit out of it either by investing in the projects or snatching

away the gain of the beneficiaries aimed. The development projects, thus, have

helped the communities displaced either for upward mobility of poor to middle

class or downward mobility of people from middle class to lower class.

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2.2.6.8 Social Disarticulation and Culture

Culture is a learned and shared pattern of behaviour. It is a collective

expression for symbolic and learned, non-biological aspects of human society,

including language, and custom by which human behaviour can be

distinguished from that of other primates. It is referred also as “the total set of

beliefs, customs, and ways of life, values and even ideology…which governs

dressing pattern, eating habit, behaviour, custom, and way of talking so on. It

differs from one to another. Society has leading role in culture formation”

(Verma, 2004, p.206).

Displacement leads to the better understanding of cultural lag and cultural

shock because the whole region undergoes gradual change in behaviour and

life pattern. The cultural degeneration is evident in resettled communities.

Manish Kumar writes,

The region has observed cultural degeneration during the years. Selfishness, greed, jealousy, frustration and leg pulling, all these mingling together created a ground for the evil society. Cut-throat competition for the scarcely available resources made the residents blind towards the means to achieve their goals. No one was bothered about the other competitors they faced; they may even be their close relatives. So, the concepts like values, ethics, morals, etc., were all forced to the back and instead, greed, temptation, hunger, breach of trust etc. were having reasonable ground for foreplay in the selfish society (p.208).

This is called as transcultural transition by Dr.Elwin. Overtly the victims of

development lose their dwelling and livelihood and covertly their culture,

civilization and the bonding with the natal place of residence.

The bombardment of outside values completely destroys the culture, tradition, norms, values and belief of the host society. For the victims are

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totally shaken and shattered and were in no position to react zestfully. Most importantly, the cemented structures of kith and kin scattered in the village, which were of great help for the villagers at the time of crisis, also fractured with the dislocation. The familiarity of the place of residence and the acquaintance of the relatives surrounding them is the greatest consoling factor for anyone. It creates a bold feeling among the persons that they can sail through any enigma successfully, and can fight and overcome the problems of coming in their way, with the help of their relatives. So, the phrase, ‘united we stand’ comes true in the life of the villagers. But the fear of relocation brings within its womb the fright of breakdown of traditional source of strength, i.e., the crumbling of the structured ties of kith and kin cemented in the village. The process of relocation starts a vicious unending process of chaos and trauma and is understood only by the victims who come across the problem (Verma, 2004, p.195).

Thus, family and community got further stratified. Introduction of new culture

and values based on equality and justice influenced the downtrodden sections

of the society. The attack on the identity of individual, groups or community is

the beginning of a complex issues at the root, but mostly unidentified by the

project designers. It also disrupts the villages’ interconnectivity, dependence

and self-reliance (Colson, 1999). The direct contact with the new communities

led either to cultural clash or cultural adaptation. The traditional food habits,

child rearing practices were transformed into new one. The deep-rooted and

long-established ritual process before, during, and after the burial of the dead is

interrupted. The festive associations and fares are no longer functioning in the

resettlement colony. The crucial role of elders and religious leaders as

facilitators is insignificant in the resettled community (Woldeselassie, 2000).

Religion has social function as a system of belief and rituals with reference to

the sacred which binds people together into social groups. Once it is lost it

cannot be replicated as it is. (Padel & Das, 2008) So project has to go beyond

economic inputs to rebuilding their cultural and social components.

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Replacement value can thus be defined less as compensation and more

rebuilding livelihood. It goes beyond the assets to quantify the loss that

common property resources like common pastures, and place of worship which

includes the social and cultural loss. Above all, community members in the

previous home areas have a sense of belonging and spiritual ties through a

common origin that many resettlers referred to as “root area where one’s

umbilical cord is buried” (Woldeselassie, 2000, p.413). Settlement

programmes should reveal development of intense community life based on

common cultural values and practices, on family-centered action and on sense

of identity. Because displaced people’s psychological strength, self esteem,

richness of skill and experience are steadily exhausted and requires the re-

emergence of their cultural systems, social structures and relations Therefore,

“without investment in rebuilding the livelihoods of the DP/PAP the project

remains islands of prosperity in an ocean of poverty they create” (Brown, 2000,

p.365).

2.2.7 Participation and Its Role in the Development-Induced

Displacement and Resettlement

Participation is defined as a “process through which stakeholders influence and

share control over priority setting, policy-making, resource allocations and

access to public goods and services” (World Bank, 2001). The term

participation implicitly means a belief in ideals of justice, a commitment to

transparency and accountability, an adherence to democratic principles.

Participation is also known as rolling rule regime to encourage greater

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transparency, accountability and cooperation from all participants who must

work together to create and implement solutions through ongoing dialogue

(Bose, 2003). Recently, the terms participation and participatory process

gained much wider meaning. Participation has been presented as an alternative

approach based on deliberative dialogue and collaborative action between

diverse stakeholders, including citizens, community leaders, activists, experts,

business interests and that aims to bring together conflicting interests in order

to build custom-designed solutions for local development problems.

“The term participation has positive connotations such as positive ideal,

something which everyone can and should support but many a times it became

ambiguous because of various interpretations it received” (Oddie, 2003, p.18).

Participatory process aims to diverse perspectives and sources of information in

decision making, leading to bring accuracy and clarity to the decisions.

Participation brings better response to particular needs of the local community

and generates stronger public support. Therefore, a few envisage participation

as ‘new paradigm’ for development, the paradigm of decentralization.

The participation of partners (local people) depends upon: clarity and

concurrence about participation, realistic on objectives, introduction on

participation expected, investment on participation, creating appropriate

expectations, spreading information needed, participatory approach in data

gathering, work with local organizations, avoiding cooptation, avoiding

dependence, reoriented bureaucracies, and proper monitoring and evaluation.

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Thus, participation means bringing the poor, not just as beneficiaries but as

partners. For, “objectives of the participatory development are: efficiency,

equity and empowerment. The first two will be accepted by all sections but the

third one is controversial and unacceptable for few sections of the society,

especially to elites” (Uphofff, 2005, p.504).

2.2.7.1 Four Essential Elements in Participation

1. Participation as a means or as a goal: There are two streams of thought

in this regard. One viewing participation as an instrument towards an objective

and the other is participation as a goal itself. Participation as a means to

measure the success of development strategies by the amount of participation

incorporated within a given project plan. Participation as a goal or objective

confines to the buy-in not plan-in. Here deliberation is the central process than

decisions that emerges from the process. In RAP participation must be for

better decision making than mere process.

2. The level at which participation operates: Participation is identified in

different ways and different levels both micro and macro spheres. For example,

local people can considerably intervene and influence the planning process and

may not be able to influence the development strategies of the region, nation or

international levels. Therefore, Pablo Bose has rightly remarked, “enabling

participation in development at the micro level without simultaneously

addressing the issue of involvement at macro level leads to dynamics of

eventual stagnation” (Bose, 2003, p.4).

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3. Participation originating agent: Participation may emerge either as an

exogenous or indigenous impulse or to say top-down or bottom-top. Goulet

(1989) says that the elites prefer participation as a means for social control.

But in grass root participation is primarily reactive in nature, responding often

to real or perceived crisis of identity. The third source of participation is

catalytic agents who serve as change agents or organizer or mobilizer of

population to achieve goal.

4. The moment at which participation is introduced: The moment of

participation begins when we bring dynamism. The authenticity of participation

is defined not by level but moment of beginning. Therefore Goulet writes, “If

one wishes to judge whether participation is authentic empowerment of the

masses or merely a manipulation of them, it matters greatly when, in the

overall sequence of steps, the participation begins” (Goulet, 1989, p.11).

The description about elements of participation brings about components of

participation in development projects that are inevitable for successful

completion of a development project and they are:

1) Examination and explanation of project’s economic and legal aspects to the community; 2) Full assessment of project’s risks and mitigating actions including risks to health and socio-cultural disarticulation; 3) Budgeting and organization of action to mitigate each risks; 4) Determination, by people, how the projects fits within their cultural vision; 5) Arrangements of institutional and financial steps that assure the projects’ benefits are opportunely and transparently allocated to the people; 6) Equitable distribution of benefits and costs through a common community defined process; 7) Development of new alternative resources to provide a sustainable livelihood to replace those lost; 8) Initiate strategies for negotiating with project promoters; 9) Assigning or electing people from indigenous groups who are knowledgeable and credible for

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initiating process; 10) Build respect by redefining the project owners’ and financiers relationship with the indigenous people (Goulet, 1989, p.20).

These components help to determine different approaches, assumptions and

mechanisms of participation based on who and how participate.

2.7.2 Participation in Development Projects

Participation, in recent times, is heralded as chief corrective forces to failure of

planning and implementation of development projects. It has become

touchstone and keyword in the arena of development without disregarding the

value of other areas of knowledge as requisite for development. The World

Commission for Dams has recognized and noted, “there has been generalized

failure to recognize affected people and empower them to participate in the

decision making process” (WCD, 2000, p.168). The withdrawal of World Bank

from financing Sardar Sarovar Project is a vivid example of Bank’s

commitment to people’s participation in development projects and

empowerment (Patkar, 1998). U.N. Guiding Principles on the internally

displaced stresses that displaced are to be able to “participate in economic

activities to associate freely and participate equally in community affairs and to

participate Governmental and public affairs, and special efforts should be made

to ensure the full participation of internally displaced persons in the planning

and management of their return or resettlement and reintegration” (UNOCHA,

1998, 22.1 (b,c,d) & 22.2). In the above statements we find that participation

functions at the level of good word since they are amorphous and ambiguous

without precision. For principle criterion to measure the peoples’ participation

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is lacking in Resettlement action plans and development projects (Ginger,

2001). Instead, “Participation will allow officials to get a better sense of how

populations are likely to be harmed by the project and to identify measures that

can help to reduce detrimental impacts as well as political opposition”(Zazueta,

1995, p.22).

The prior informed consent does not mean power to veto over the development

project but voice and vote in determining the use of their resources and destiny

as citizen of the nation. In top-down planning prior informed consent is

without active participation of the people echoes the recurrent theme - loss of

sovereignty (Downing & Gracia-Downing, 2001). The increasing crave for

sovereignty is on the raise and people are aware of their rights and about the

sustained risks posed by the development projects. The increasing trend to

empower the indigenous and local people resulted in their capacity and ability

to control the impact of development projects on their culture and livelihood

i.e., empowerment began with tolerance and compassion and finally results in

sovereignty the people enjoy.

Former World Bank president James Wolfensohn (2000) commented that

present policies of the States and World Bank do not incorporate provisions

requiring prior informed consent of the indigenous people to resettlement.

Instead they call for meaningful consultation with and informed participation of

all potentially displaced persons. The concept of prior informed consent is very

difficult to operationalize, because it is not reflected in the legal framework of

any country which contrary to the principle of eminent domain in effect in most

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countries and preference to focus on issues of systematic non-compliance with

the existing policy. Thus we can conclude that primary value of participatory

process lies in their ability to provide the detailed information, networks of

support, and techniques of conflict management required for better

implementation of policies and projects that have already been determined in

advance. Instead of becoming problematization, critical engagement and class

of work participation has become problem solving technique (Cernea, 1995).

2.2.7.3 Participation in Development Projects of India

Almost all the development projects lack participation of the displaced and

they are rarely consulted before the displacement. The temple of modern and

secular India is becoming ‘Jalianwalabagh’ of Indian poor. There is little room,

we find in displacement history of India, for participation of the displacees who

are unaware of extent of potential impacts of project in their life (Fernades,

1995). Oustees are not in part of planning rather they are part of mitigation

team. Here participation means ‘participation becomes a case of building

consent to already extant development plans, approving the goals of other and

of managing one’s own misery’ (Bose, 2003, p.13). The poor are captivated by

the terms save, better, improve etc., and participation has become an

‘ambiguous mantra’ of the development planners and authorities. First human

being was subject to involuntary relocation, by divine decision without any

consultation and participation in decision making process and the process

continues in India even after the implementation of Local self Government

enactment in 1993 (Fernades, 2001). Participation calls for redressing

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inequities caused by displacement through socially responsible resettlement

i.e., resettlement genuinely guided by an equity compass which can counteract

lasting impoverishment and generate benefits for both national and local

economy. It needs adequate communication between project actors and

displacees otherwise it calls for negative participation that is active opposition

movements against development (Cernea, 1999b). When resettlement is carried

out with disregard to people’s basic entitlements, it leads to additional social

pathologies: avoidable hardship and pain, mores losses, which call protest,

delays of project benefits, sharp political tensions etc. It leads to conflicts

among the project beneficiaries and displaced. It is the responsibility of the

project implementers to convince the oustees to accept the displacement as free

service to the nation which can be said as ‘for their tomorrow we are giving our

today’ (Cernea, 2006).

The descent expressed by the displacees does not mean that they are to be

dismissed from the planning but a warning to the authorities to careful planning

for betterment of the oustees. Lack of participation of the affected

communities and host population in resettlement design and management is a

major cause of implementation problems, especially when the institution

charged with resettlement execution is weak (Jain, 2006).

Participation opens up political space for dialogue and debate. Because real

power of participatory processes should not necessarily be viewed in terms of

outcomes but rather with regards to the space of dialogue that they help nurture

(Ahmed, 2003). For Pablo “the idea of participation as a dialogic process,

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rather than as a formulaic, outcome-driven mechanism, is an important one”

(Bose 2003, p.13). Both perspectives are very much contributive to the

statement of World Commission on Dam (2000). It says, “Participation in

development as a process, equitable and active involvement of all stakeholders

in the formulation of development policies and strategies and in the analysis,

planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development

activities” to be ensured. This is supported by Medha Patkar (1998) when she

said, “an inclusive, transparent process of decision making, coupled with

involvement in planning and implementation by oustees are keys to a new

paradigm of development” (p.243).

Resettlement schemes do not have the ‘act of listening’ as Jonathan speaks

about the important role of the Non Government Organizations in the

reconstruction process. And when “the act of listening does occur, people’s

views are always heard. And even if their views are heard, they are not always

acted upon since donors have a variety of motivations for defining programmes

as they do. The motivations are laudable, but are also mixed with political,

economic, commercial, bureaucratic, and perhaps, even arbitrary

considerations” (Amani, 2003, p.365). Studying the development projects of

irrigation Bagadion notes that “role of the community organizers in following

participatory approach is significant which requires six types of field level

practice. They are: Socio-technical profile to study feasibility of the study,

Lead time, institutional and technical coordination, hiring and contracting for

construction work, financial recording and reconciliation, and post construction

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assistance” (Bagadion & Korten 1991, p.78). The successful implementation of

participatory approach in development projects requires a shift in the norms

and attitudes of the implementing agency’s personnel and shift in the

perspective on basic goals. For participation is viewed as conditional and

limited to achieve the participation. Venturing not beyond the procedural

decision-making body will inevitably hinder the efficiency goal-attain

legitimacy. Therefore, participation is considered fine as it does not challenge

(Garside, 2004).

Many Government agencies decide in secrecy on displacement needs, amounts,

procedures, terms and deadlines without consultation and participation of those

who have their most vital interests at stake. McDowel (2000) writes,

The most dehumanizing in the whole process of land acquisition is the denial of the right of the dispossessed to participate in the decision making process. The question arises then is who prepares for whom, how and when the resettlement? It is the right of the displaced to be informed about the relocation in advance and also involve them in decision making process which can broaden the information horizon of the planners. The participation can minimize the hardships to the victims and help them to determine their future. The constitution of different mechanisms like Village Development Advisory Committee will smooth the relationship between agency and oustees and also solution to redress the unheard plight of the victims (p.67).

This is corroborated in the Show Cause notice issued to CIAL by Ministry of

environment, Government of India in 1997(see appendix).

The attitude of the bureaucrats, ‘a handsome compensation for displacement to

meet needs after displacement’ is a blatant denial of the rights of the displaced

and affected to participate in matters concerning their lives. Studying

development induced projects of Kerala and peoples’ participation in decision

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making Murickan and others state that people had little participation in the

planning of relocation and no village leader was involved in the planning

processes (Murickan, George, Emmanuel, Jose & Pillai, 2003). But the UNGP

(2008) require that displacement must be carried out lawfully seeking free and

fully informed consent of those affected. People’s participation must be

assured in compensation and relocation and if necessary judicial review is

guaranteed as remedy.

2.2.8 Approaches to Resettlement and Reconstruction

The resettlement and reconstruction approaches traditionally were in four

forms as situation requires. (1) Separating resettlement and reconstruction. In

resettlement cost of initial housing, subsistence allowance etc provided by

Government and donor agencies. In reconstruction investment and working

capital for early income generation activities, provision for medium and long

term physical and social infrastructure, access to employment opportunities,

and reconstruction of viable communities are provided, often as loans, by

Government and international financial organizations. (2) Sector concentration:

sector concentration allows a donor to fund reconstruction for a sector, or

sometimes several sectors, in which the donor has expertise or interest. (3)

Geographic concentration: focusing in one geographical area to invest funds for

the development of one region in multifaceted ways, this is termed as ‘planting

the flag’. (4) Comprehensive approach: The approach integrates resettlement

and reconstruction to concentrate on the risks the displaced are exposed and

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covers all sectors that the need assessment and stakeholder consultation process

have identified. This is also known as Christmas tree approach leading to

coordination and cooperation. (Cernea, 2000a)

Whereas Ismail Sergeldin (2006) suggests another two approaches in the

displacement and resettlement; firstly, compensation approach i.e., give back to

displaced people what was lost to them; secondly, people centered approach

i.e., provide means and tools to people to transform in order to be able to take

charge of their destinies. Ultimately, the resettlement authority move from

economics of development to economics of resettlement with development.

Unquestionably, the prudent approach demands long-term commitments,

innovative solutions, financial and institutional guarantees, and the use of

professionals experienced in the issues of social development and indigenous

people. “Therefore, it is only desirous that the formulation of a rehabilitation

policy be comprehensive and that in order for it to retain the welfare and total

perspectives it should get rid of its inherent assumption of displacement being

inevitable by delimiting itself from economic resettlement emphasizing on the

‘balance sheet approach’ and by understanding that the very nature of national

development has to change” (Behera & Mohanty, 2003, p.178).

2.2.8.1 Resettlement and Rearticulation

The working paper of Swansea University, Wales on Integrated Planning

Against Relocation Risks (IPAR) (Rew, 2005) has identified two types of risks

in the displacement and resettlement and they are: 1) to lessen the trauma from

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the loss of attachment to relatives and to homes demolished by human or

natural agency - visual-spatial attachment, 2) to establish a frame work for

resettlement and rehabilitation management through policy changes,

institutional capacity building and living standards and thus move from ad hoc

efforts and welfarism. The combination of trauma, usually ad hoc,

impoverishing outcomes, and weak communications for IDPs lead to

leadership difficulties and decline in social authority within relocated

communities. It needs, therefore, integrated planning in developing leadership

to act against relocation risks of the displaced community. IPAR model stresses

on the capacity building to deal with the complex emergencies and

development-induced displacement before they happened and we should not

wait to measure problems/risks after the catastrophes are taken place.

Therefore, the success of resettlement scheme depends on various factors but

most important is planning based on adequate pre-investment surveys of the

physical and human resources, the social setting, and the human values. Cernea

holds that the magnitude of the adverse effects of resettlement schemes can be

reduced provided the political commitment, legal frame works, and adequate

resources are put in place (Cernea, 2000). The IRR model aims at enabling and

helping displaced people to restore their capital in all its multifaceted forms.

The components of this reconstruction model would, therefore, require not only

adequate compensation for property, but also adequate rebuilding of the

displaced people’s income-generating capacity and livelihoods, particularly in

terms of the four lost capitals. It needs a change in concept and method

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suggested on treating resettlement operations as opportunities for development

project. It means not mere mitigation of the risks but construct a socio-

economic basis for resettlers’ livelihood so that the income curve is as prior to

the displacement. Because resettlers’ income curve has sociological perspective

that is to say reestablishment costs highlights importance of other levers and

resources. It is social readjustment process of considerable complexity that also

depends upon non-economic factors such as people’s forms of social

organization, mobilization etc. The resettlement and reconstruction process,

therefore, must be drawn after completing ‘need assessment’ among the

displaced community and coordinating various institutions involved in

development projects in planning and implementing the project. Along with it

the lessons learned by international community must be used in the process.

Jonathan C. Brown identified three features of displaced community in the

reconstruction process which require our immediate attention. They are:

firstly, displaced community lost their capital and possessions; secondly, they

may develop dependency syndrome; and thirdly, no longer able to return to

their mode of life they left behind, especially in the absence of substantial

assistance from the project implementing agency (Brown, 2000).

Woldeselassie (2000) states that resettlement, long distant, from of their present

living may influence on physical, biological, and socio-cultural systems of the

new resettlement areas including of host population, and environment.

Professional assessment of environmental, economic and socio-cultural

features of resettlement which was neglected in most of the resettlement

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programmes. If after due process displacement even if become inevitable,

resettlement must be an opportunity for raising standards of living, restoring

community and kinship relations and minimizing the conflict with the host

community (Kothari, 1995). “The rehabilitation pattern as prescribed at

Rourkela in 1950s was certainly much more liberal and comprehensive and

was inherently community oriented but we lack it in modern time” (Mahapatra,

1996). In the official documentation for projects only rarely one can find data

about resettlement costs beyond compensation paid to the project-affected

families. The reconstruction should, therefore, take care of the

intergenerational gap and social exclusion. Social gap is often so large and the

implementing staffs confirm patterns of social exclusion in refusing to

understand or accept the cultural differences. It needs to be equipped with

occupational, emotional, and social skills to cope with their relocation. The

generation owning the lands lost or acquired is aggrieved at their loss of social

status and the curtailment of their occupational niche (Downing, 1999).

If relocation is not led by income rehabilitation and good access to quality

education and training, the young can often become the bitterest critics of

relocation. Because economics of resettlement involves distinct costs

categories critical for achieving project results without leaving people worse

off. The expenses bearing upon them must be internalized in the overall project

budget and financing (Cernea, 2004)

In the socio-political atmosphere of Kerala, the people do not accept any

development project easily. They have critical attitude towards the motives

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behind the project and development. Because most of the projects in Kerala, as

if of the country and world invited very little public participation in the

decision making process of displacement and rehabilitation packages. In many

of the projects there was no prior plan for resettlement. There was serious

negligence on the part of the project authorities in planning and implementing

resettlement with time frame. The paramount of successful resettlement and

livelihood reconstruction depends upon rebirth of community institutions.

Therefore, resettlement needs sociological tool of analysis not only to mitigate

impoverishment but regeneration of socio-cultural capital of the community

through its socio-cultural compatibility of the project which can be assessed on

the basis of either explicit statements in primary documents or identification of

a notable lack of fit between project goals or implementation strategy and local

culture. The socio-cultural dimensions of economic development include the

social organizations (formal and non-formal) of the project area population;

issues of stratification, ranking, and ethnicity; sex-based division of labour and

gender roles; and systems of values and motivation (Downing, 2002).

Asian Development Bank has identified few factors leading to successful

resettlement; such as: political commitment of borrowers (countries) in the

form of laws, policies, and resource allocations, close adherence to established

guidelines and procedures in implementation, sound social analysis, reliable

demographic assessments, and appropriate technical expertise in planning for

development-oriented resettlement, reliable cost estimates and provision of

required financing with resettlement activities phased in tune with civil works

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construction, effective executing agencies that are responsive to local

development needs, opportunities and constraints, people’s participation in

setting resettlement objectives, identifying reestablishment solutions and

implementing them (ADB, 1998). Along with these Parasuram (1999) has

identified three more factors for a successful resettlement in India and they are:

strong alliance of displaced people and exertion of heavy pressure on political

leaders in district and State levels, readiness of host community to

accommodate the displacees for political advantage of the community.

In socio-cultural sensitivity of the country like India two aspects determine the

success, national culture and culture of the development agency which affect

the culture in three aspects: kinship, low educational level, and economic

weakness (Cernea, 1991b). Theodore E. Downing (2002) puts forward that

resettlement plan or Resettlement action plan (RAP) - a time bound action plan

with a budget which sets out resettlement strategy, objectives, entitlements,

actions, responsibilities, monitoring and evaluation – as an integral part of the

development plan should involve the prior informed consultation with affected

peoples to build their capacity to deal with resettlement in order to prevent

early identified impoverishment risks especially among the vulnerable sections

of the society who suffer disproportionately from the resettlement effect. The

RAP will increase the availability and utility of economic resources, ensure the

environmental sustainability, promote respect for basic human rights, increase

equity between affected groups and other national groups as well as increasing

equity among the different groups within affected populations, increase local

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autonomy and control, improve people’s ability to affect their interactions with

national institutions.

But Parasuram (1999) has pointed out the following reasons for failure of

resettlement of the development-induced displacees and its unmanageability

and they are:

1. The pace of change has exceeded the limit of resilience of the prevalent social and economic system, and has led to its disruption.

2. Non-recognition of people’s right to determine his/her future or own property.

3. Ignoring impact of the project on people in the planning process.

4. Failing to appreciate displacement as empirical reality.

5. Displacement has not been recognized as a serious issue because most of the people affected belong to the weakest sections of the community.

6. Approach to displacement has been ad hoc and not primary.

7. Most displaced people are poor and availability of poor resources.

8. The increase in the oustees-land ratio. In 1980 it is 5.52 per hectare and at present it is doubled (p.189)

Conrad Philip Kottak (1991) using ex-post evaluation study indicates three

factors causing development projects fail such as inadequate socio-economic

knowledge in project preparation, project management units lacked the social

skills to carry out the social engineering goals of the project and use of

culturally biased and often incompatible social design was used (often

unconsciously used Euro-American models than use of third world models for

third world development).

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Various studies of modern times suggested other reasons too and Koenig

(2001) comprehends various studies undertaken by experts:

1. Arise of unanticipated problems became apparent (Colson, 1971).

2. Increased stress of the displacees and resettlers (Pearlman 1982).

3. Increased stress of the displacees and resettlers (Pearlman 1982).

4. Inadequate ground work and overlooking the needs of the oustees before the project starts. Because the completion of the project is more important to the project authorities than the victims of the project due to the absence of proper goal in planning (D’Souza, 1990).

5. Do not address factors leading to impoverishment and social disarticulation (Cernea, 1991).

6. Despite planning and participation of social scientists, results remained problematic for they failed to provide infrastructure, housing, health and educational resources undermining the efforts of the social scientists to reconstitute livelihood (Nugent, 1980)

7. Due to little knowledge of rural life and do not pay sufficient attention to social aspects of communities (Baboo, 1996).

8. Poor were more vulnerable and became more impoverished (Pandey, 1998).

9. It takes away political power, most dramatically the power to make a decision about where to live (Woldeselassie, 2000).

10. Lacuna in policy planning (Cernea 1996) and does make no sense in the making of policy, to compromise the long term survival of the poor for the short term existence of a dam/project (Kevin, 2001).

Koenig (2001) then suggested two means to overcome such constraints and

they are in relation to problems and democratic planning.

1. The problems in relation to inadequate resettlement are divided into three

levels such as administrative weakness, résistance and complexity of the issue.

Administrative weakness consists of weak institutions - lacking a policy

mandate, organizational capacity and professional social engineering skills,

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authoritarianism - and authoritarian institutions occur where the displaced and

host populations are not empowered to participate adequately formal linear

view of policy stages, form formulation to implementation (De Wet, 2002).

2. Democratic planning includes the time and efforts to sort out disagreeing

issues between project management and oustees regarding projects including

accountability, transparency, capacity building, coalition building and increase

of choice. Transparency opens up of knowledge about project to all interested

parties without any reservation which will call for participation in promoting

dissemination of legal entitlement and eligibility, options, due process and

grievance mechanism along with laying down the rules operating in the project

applicable for all parties which are absent in a socially advanced State like

Kerala. Democratization of planning can improve the choice of the people. It

is a need of the people, in the case of resettlement, to promote participation.

2.2.8.2 Challenges in Resettlement

Major challenges in resettlement are effective planning to get the work

executed in the least amount of time, money and manpower, drafting people-

oriented policy to look after the welfare of the victims and not management,

planning resettlement and rehabilitation as the right of the displacees and not as

charity or welfare of the Government and including social science experts as

part of administrative machinery (Koenig, 2001). Along with these challenges

Renee (2000) has suggested two more action oriented efforts in the

resettlement and they are: 1) assess the linkage between economic

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transformation and socio-cultural disarticulation. 2) How to transform the space

into place to the displacees (Rheene, 2000). Abutte’s (2000) notes on the

lessons learned in his displacement studies become other areas of challenges

for the resettlement and rehabilitation planners for a social reconstruction of the

torn away society. He states that avoiding politically imposed mass relocation

at all costs, and the safe guarding population’s basic human rights, fair and far-

sighted policy and legal frame works for resettlement operations at the national

and international level, and providing the conditions necessary to facilitate than

hindering people’s own initiatives and development of community associations

which are vital in the social re-articulation of a disrupted community because

involuntary resettlement is a socio-economic issue, not an engineering issue.

These challenges can be met if we move from blueprint approach to learning

process approach (Koenig, 2001). Project plan designed flexibly to incorporate

potential changes evolved after experiment and negotiations required due to

inadequate attention to social context and failure in local adaptation.

Interaction with project affected people may invite peoples’ need and

livelihood strategies to be incorporated which becomes a learning process for

project managers and compels them to move from adherence to blueprint to

learning process approach which requires improving managing teams’

professional capacity acquiring wider knowledge of the circumstances and

social capital of the project area making use of variety of organizational frame

work is required for success of the project. This may help to incorporate

resettlement cost in the project such as replacement cost of assets, income

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compensation for the entire transition period, added investment costs to secure

accelerated development, out-of-pocket costs involved in actual moving,

administrative and transaction costs, and other costs (Mejia, 1999). This will

increase resettlement options for capacity building or skill development which

is determinant to the aim of development. Therefore start new learning process

- skill training and capacity building in midstream of the project so that they

can hire the displacees for the project work. This may pave the way for

people’s participation as a means to share the cost, ownership and

responsibility with people and gradually capacitating local bodies to implement

resettlement project in a greater democratic way.

2.2.8.3 Reconstruction of the Community Life

Social Rearticulation can be defined as the ways in which oustees have sought

to reconstruct their social and community life, to provide the means to

sustainability by absorbing the shocks and stresses of modern life and to take

advantage of new and emerging opportunities for further advancement. And it

is a process that least addressed among the current approaches, both at the

operational level and in social research. “Community reconstruction refers

primarily to group level aspects, including formal organizations and formal

institutions…Differences exist between fully recreating new village settlement

or neighbourhoods, as new social units, and fill in operations relocating

resettlers as scattered families within other pre-existing communities”(Cernea,

1996b, p.32).

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The inherent difficulty in re-establishing standards of living and community

services is compounded by the limited technical and institutional resettlement

capacity of most agencies and by weak commitment from executive agencies.

Consequently, in a large number of projects, the actual results of R & R are not

consistent with the standards defined and demanded by each country’s policy.

If the policy had been implemented in letter and spirit the scenario of

rehabilitation would have been better. World Bank has rightly commended on

India’s Policy implementation. It says, “The experience in third world countries

like India shows that Bank’s desire to ensure compliance through the State and

project authorities is so apologetic and half-hearted that the implementation of

R & R is perceived as an unfortunate and unmitigated disaster” (Qtd in Dutta,

2007). The very concept of social geometry developed by Downing reveals the

force behind the social rearticulation, creating bridge between the loss of

homeland and the unfamiliar situation into which they had been unwillingly

thrust. The resettlement process is deeply related to the social landscape of

geography. This means the process involved in recreating a familiar mental

landscape out of an unknown, uncharted expanse and thus become place

instead of space. Socio-spatial factors are critical elements in the process in

resettlement. The study of Rhenee (2000) reveals that preference for marriage

within the group of origin resulted in the reinforcement of lost social fabric,

which is a best example of this socio-spatial factor. Rhenee Hirschon pictures

effort of displaced community to reconstruct and regenerate it as if before the

displacement. It was on the basis of Lausanne convention (1923) and

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unprecedented forcible removals of people of Turkey and Greece by

international treaty of two religious minorities from their places of origin.

“Community life was developed out of destitution and disruption, and these

quarters were marked by a high degree of social integration and identity, even

though by most objective and measurable criteria they constituted slums”

(Hirsehon, 2000, p.394). Maintenance of cultural practices and values is an

essential element in the resilience displayed by those uprooted people,

especially maintenance of family structure and stability and of the values

pertaining to men’s and women’s roles, and role of religion and ritual, which

endowed life with a meaning even in the face of traumatic disruption and loss.

Religion is a crucial element in creating social and spiritual terms. Studying the

rearticulation process, Woldeselassie (2000) noticed that best trade and

exchange are adapted in the resettlement. Reasserting of religious and cultural

practices is inevitably necessary for social re-articulation. The constructions of

road network, hospitals, potable drinking water availability, etc. help the

community to be united and work for the development together. In other

words:

The re-articulation of the eight risks enabled the community to re-articulate and be proud of their identity. In the absence of support and encouragement from authorities the resettlers showed initiatives and independence in managing their business of daily life which led to the self-reliance and community networking. There is a gradual strengthening and re-articulation of communities and community related activities and events. Role of the elders in the settlement of disputes, role of the priests in facilitating marriage received momentum in the rearticulated community and responsible for teaching the importance of culturally accepted values and norms. The reemergence of the belief systems has rekindled optimism and hope among the resettler communities, contributing to their adaptation (Woldeselassie, 2000, p.334).

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Mahapatra (2000b), analyzing the process of social rearticulation and

regeneration in the resettlement colonies of Ramial project, identified three

levels in social rearticulating and community regenerating processes;

1.Intra colony community regeneration: myths, spatial patterns of settlement, and informal and formal institutions facilitated and enabled community regenerations i.e., social hierarchy, village committees, youth clubs women’s funds, conflict between host and resettled community which provide cement to the pre-existing social bonds, contributing significantly to the process of community regeneration in the colonies. 2. Pan-colony social reconstruction: Castes, community established schools, and festivals and fares. 3. Colony-host social re-articulation. Joint participations –of the colonies of oustees and surrounding villages- in rituals, fares, and festivals and children from outside the colonies attending colony schools, markets, and clinics, all contribute to binding the colonies and nearby villages in ever-widening networks of interaction – leading to closer cooperation over common development concerns and programmes….Thus the reconstruction of the community may result from the pull factors contributing to community regeneration and social re-articulation and they are: en bloc resettlement, leadership emerging to mobilize the displacees and cultural performance (p.440-41).

The issue who should provide or develop the resettlement for the displacees is

still remaining as a life threatening issue. In many of the Government projects,

it was unable to provide job and people have to find their own job when it was

snatched away by Government. Because while risks appear to be quite similar

in both river basin and non-river basin projects; the strategies for mitigating

risks, reestablishing effective livelihoods, and creating development may be

quite different (Bagchi, 2005).

The reconstruction process can be speeded up by establishing lost harmony

among the people, preparing people to accept nature of change; Recognition of

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their fundamental right to treat as fully human, and substitute common property

resources to establish benefit sharing.

Koenig’s (2001) suggestions for reconstruction have divided the measures into

different segments; economic, political and democratic. In the economic

aspects he is depending on Cernea’s IRR model which has implicitly addressed

the issue of equity between affected groups and other national groups along

with environmental sustainability. But it has been less effective at addressing

political aspects related with displacement, including addressing human rights

of the displaced, increasing local autonomy, and improving people’s ability to

affect their interaction causing real integral development (WCD, 2000).

Political aspects consists of people’s access to those factors which affect the

regional, national, and local growth, development and greater autonomy in

their own affairs within frame work of existing policies. In Indian context,

resettlers could potentially have access to existing health and nutrition, credit

and subsistence programmes, but they needed to live in recognized

administrative villages and enabling them to participate in the political affairs

of Local, State, National level, i.e., to conceptualize ‘incorporation’ (Scudder,

1991). It means democracy can be one of the best solutions to the resettlement

problems. Otherwise resettlement initiatives, moreover, seem likely to provoke

resistance due to the absence of knowledge of local situations and unable to

foresee consequences they create on resettlers. Therefore democratic

approaches to planning may be the best way to address successfully the

constraints of administrative failure and resistance in framing development

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initiatives for resettled groups. Indeed, the gerrymandering of districts and

patron-client networks handicap the displacees’ political power in the

democracy.

The reconstruction strategy should not discount the existing factor; socio-

cultural differentiation among the displaced and affected persons. “Those

affected by resettlement, even if they seem relatively homogeneous to

outsiders, have different needs and interests. The cohesion necessary for

organized action is not autonomous, but needs to be built, in light of this

differentiation” (Koenig , 2001). For displaced and others affected may have

conflicting interests. It is therefore, not only identifying times and places lose

but also intra group conflict and heterogeneity of interests is also critical

(Downing & Garcia, 2001) and the particular need of each community should

be considered with better data baseline.

2.2.8.4 Benefit Sharing and Role of NGOs for Reconstruction

“Development project planners of the developing countries fail to incorporate

economic development into cultural vision of the indigenous people who prefer

the opposite - incorporate cultural vision into economic development and its

absence is the real cause of failure of the project” (Cook, 1991, p.415).

Because, if the project is fit to the cultural vision it will result benefit sharing

with the indigenous people and make necessary arrangement to distribute the

benefit of the project which requires negotiations to come up with agreement

how to distribute the benefits. Unfortunately project’s non-indigenous

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stakeholders misunderstood rehabilitation or relocation cost as benefit sharing

ignoring the fact that there would not have such displacement or social

disarticulation in the absence of the project (Areeparampil, 1989). “It is

historically true that displaced people have not benefited from the development

projects and they are on the loss of their own identity” (Downing, 1999, p.200).

Because Government has their wider goal as national growth and development

and individual is less important than nation.

The benefit of the project may intend to share with the poor and displacees of

the project area but never crystallized. Kalin (2005) says “displaced population

in poor rural areas may not enjoy electricity from a dam project if they cannot

afford the fixed installation cost and the recurrent costs of the electricity use in

the areas where they are resettled” (p223). The same can be true in the CIAL.

The poor displacees are not the real beneficiaries of the project. They may

never use flights and even never entered in the airport of the CIAL.

It is forced appropriation, compensation and benefit sharing which determines

the goals of the project. But Government has to define what really they aim

and what welfare they implement for its citizens - victims at the altar of the

development. Therefore, it demands a right decision to accept the possible and

probable liabilities into the acknowledged liabilities. It needs a shift in focus;

think from the perspectives of the displacees or adopt bottom to top approach

than a top to bottom approach which will generate clarity of vision about

reconstruction of the life of the displacees. Mere presentation of the

contingency clause or corporate statements never alleviates new poverty rather

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inclusion of probable and possible liabilities in the project costs and avoidance

of externalization of social costs will effect the social reconstruction (Basu,

1996; De Wet, 1988).

NGOs have a pivotal role to play in the community reconstruction efforts of the

oustees in the development projects. They can act as link between oustees and

Government or project management because NGOs can make communication

viable and community’s participation possible. Their presence makes the

evaluation of the resettlement project objective and independent. ADB has

recognized that local, people’s organizations and mainstream development

NGOs often play a constructive role in facilitating public discussion and

dialogues and assist in evolving pragmatic solutions. But many of the projects

have not attempted to incorporate the NGOs into the field at national and

regional and local levels in different areas, such as: informing affected persons

about adverse impacts of projects, by networking with their international

counterparts, and in lobbying for design modifications including change of

location of such projects, act as intermediaries between affected persons and

the project executing agencies and facilitate the channeling of affected person’s

view and preference to executing agencies, mobilize affected persons and

organize them to work together to minimize the adverse effects or maximize

benefits, assist the displaced community to reconstruct the society and keep the

interest of the people pooled together and not dispersed, and remove the

constraints and factionalism of the society in reconstruction.

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But many of the projects have not attempted to incorporate the NGOs into field

which forces them to be a party against the displacement and resettlement and

support people’s resistance against project which has acquired new dimension.

Hari Mathur (1998) says,

The struggles directed against many of the sponsored development project have even begun attracting the attention of the international public opinion. Apparently, a new internationalism is coming into being; strengthening global cooperation among people’s movements….It derives support from growing democratic concerns and human rights. The basic premise of this awakening is that all people, especially the oppressed people, have a natural and universal right to criticize, oppose, or prevent the implementation of decisions affecting their lives, no matter where those decisions are made, and that this right as people’s right, is more fundamental than any artificial law or institution established by the State (p5-6).

Accordingly the formation of various committees or NGOs to resist and fight

for the right of the displacees is taken place in the project affected areas. NGOs

became a source for strength to bargain and mediator between the oustees and

project management. NGOs unified people who are divided due to various

reasons and the best example is National Alliance of People’s Movement.

Conclusion

The work done by earlier researchers and academicians have covered the areas

like, lack of authentic and concrete data of displaced persons and their

whereabouts, communication gap, the absence of participatory approach, oustees’

dependency syndrome, the problem of crumbling family, fear psychosis, place

attachment, policy implications, loss of compensation in gambling, consumption

of con liquor and allied activities etc. in the displacement studies. The most

important, most of the study covered, was the cost-benefit analysis that is

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economy part of the displacement. A sociological attempt was made by Guha to

trace the origin of the social movement in the economic sphere.

The best possible and available sociological, anthropological, social engineers

and social workers perspective to the development project and oustees was

suggested by Micheal M. Cernea’s IRR Model and its cultural implication

along with new dimensions pointed by T.Downing, Mahapatra, Pandey,

Fernades, and other leading researchers in this field. A herculean task was

done by Manish Kumar to study the cultural depletion of the communities as

the aftermath of the development project in the country. His study was on

Indian rural culture based on Singrauli project. Fernades and others tried to

find out the gap between what is stated in the policy and implementation of the

development projects in the tribal areas of India. Murickan and others in their

study argued that the displaced had to shift to an unknown area where they

encounter a different culture manifested in the manner of thinking, expression

of feeling, behaviour and ultimately the way of life. The people of Kerala did

not undergo intense cultural conflict and change. They reasoned as majority of

the displaced remained in their own Panchayats or Taluks even after losing

land. But their study failed to delve deep to understand the changes in the

culture, interpersonal ties, social organizations, networks especially in the

cooking, baby rearing, water usage, neighbourhood relations, kinship, religious

life etc. and the people’s participation right from the beginning till the

reconstruction of their community in the resettled areas. It may not be a

cultural change but rather a cultural adaptation the displaced and resettled

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people of Kerala have undergone which needs to be studied. Socially and

economically advanced people of Kerala may have to undergo changes in

cultural and traditional practices because they were a community once

articulated, but displaced. The survival of the community depends on how it

adapts itself to new situations and articulates the torn off social fabric. It needs,

therefore, a close examination to identify answers to the questions like: whether

development-induced displacement leads a socially articulated community in

the project area to socially disarticulate? Whether they are forced to undergo

cultural adaptation due to displacement and resettlement? What are the efforts

made by both people and project management to reconstruct the community

and whether participation evoked as a better means for designing and

implementing development of project in such a highly dynamic and politically

vibrant community like Kerala?