Shame...!
...cried the NGOs, oustees, social scientists and mass leaders in unison. Neither the secretive methods of the government nor the general policies laid down in the draft were acceptable to them.
"It is a matter of shame that this draft policy is being formulated more for satisfying the conditions laid down by international agencies, rather than to deal with the problems of development-affected people," stated the resolution passed at the end of the National Workshop on the Draft Rehabilitation Policy. That is the motive, the participants felt, behind the government limiting the scope of the document to that of a policy, not a draft Bill.
"For any policy to have teeth it must be translated into a justiciable document. The only value that can be put on a policy is that it can help drafting the law. Our critique of the policy is made with this clear understanding," the resolution roared.
The critique adopted at the workshop also marks out the guidelines of a pro-people rehabilitation Bill. The drafts take displacement and the present development model for granted, said the critique. But any national policy must enunciate the development paradigm, making minimisation of displacement an essential pre-requisite. The Land Acquisition Act must be amended and the notion of "public purpose" redefined to reduce displacement.
No one should be displaced more than once. Developmental processes must be based on a comprehensive area/regional plan valid for at least 50 years, integrating and assessing all the projects in the area.
Any developmental project must be based on the choice of the people, especially the potential victims. They alone should decide whether a project serves any public purpose or the national interest.
The right to information and access to it in regional languages at all stages of a project is a must. This, of course, cannot be achieved without making good the Constitutional promise of free, universal and compulsory elementary education.
Any policy must address itself specifically to the rights of women. The concept of the family as a unit has to be re-examined to emphasise the basic entitlements of women, including the right to rehabilitation, and the right to participate in the decision-making process at all levels.
Land-for-land, of equal productive capacity should be provided to the actual tillers and those who depend on it for their livelihood, not to absentee and non-cultivating landowners. The responsibility for this must lie squarely on the project authorities and the government/s concerned. The satisfaction of this condition must be a fundamental pre-requisite for the project approval and clearance.
The historically established sovereign rights of the people over their resources, including land, natural resources and knowledge must be recognised.
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