By Venkat Parsa June 29: Despite a National Resettlement and Rehabilitation Policy and two pending bills, continued instances of forced eviction and failed resettlement and rehabilitation show that problems related to the compensation and benefit-sharing have not been properly addressed by the planners. This was stated by Delhi University geography lecturer Kavita Arora, a specialist in the subject. Dr Kavita Arora told this newspaper, "May 2008 will be remembered as one of the worst months for natural disasters in the world. Cyclone Nargis hit Burma on May 3. China's worst earthquake in 32 years struck Sichuan province on May 12." A struggle has been launched by representatives of 30 million uprooted and displaced people, who recently protested at Jantar Mantar in the city. The people came from different places, like Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh, besides Dharmapuri and Kailash Colony in the city. "This brings to light some lacunae in the Resettlement and Rehabilitation Policy and the two bills," Dr Arora said. According to Dr Arora, minimisation of largescale displacement is one of the stated objectives of Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill, but it has not put in place any mechanism to ensure this. Another criticism was that the Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill lays down the benchmark of involuntary displacement of 400 or more families en masse in plain areas and 200 crore more families en masse in tribal or hilly areas. Dr Arora said, "If the families, which are affected are less than 400/200 benchmark, they will be outside the purview of the Resettlement and Rehabilitation Policy. A clear time line for the completion of the resettlement and rehabilitation is also missing in the bill. "This does not categorically make complete resettlement and rehabilitation compulsory for any development project to take shape. Arguing that mere formulation of the policy is not enough, Dr Kavita Arora said, "Instead of taking it as anti-state and anti-development struggle, there is an urgent need to address the concerns of the affected people. These cases reflect not only the flaws in the policy but also a major gap in the policy and practice."