Analysis of Relief and Rehabilitation Policy

7/30/2019 Analysis of Relief and Rehabilitation Policy

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Analysis of Relief and Rehabilitation Policy: Dayamani Barla

Analysis of Relief and Rehabilitation Policy: Dayamani Barla

A Big thump on the back to Urvi Sukul Singh for translating Dayamaniji'sarticleinto

English :) . Some letters she wrote to officials are inthis link:). Note: we did not knowthe exact translation for some of the words. In such cases, we added a "??" suffix. Do

please leave a comment if you know the correct translation.

SWEET POISON

The Jharkhand government-sponsored establishment of Resettlement andRehabilitation Policy 2008 is like a sweet poison.The reasons are not far to seek

founded on loot and plunder and a corruption-ridden political-administrative nexus,

this arrangementin the name of developmentseeks the supreme sacrifice of

displacement from the inheritors of the Jharkhand land.

The sweet poison of resettlement is a sure death for the said peoples. The welfare ofwater-forest-land linked societies is a matter of serious reflection for the intellectuals,

social organizations and advocates of sustainable development. This policy, which was

tabled in the Cabinet on 16th July, makes a good read and has all the right sound bites

but it cannot to stand up to the harsh realities of life, i.e. it is not pragmatic. This bitter

experience is also courtesy the dispensation of the RR policy.

The compensation, jobs, shares, debentures, pucca housing,1% share in the company's

net income, subsistence allowance, gains from annual "possessions"(??) (deposits??), is

just a pipe dream.This policy also touches upon social resettlement whereas it is well-

known that the Adivasi-basic farmer's social, economic, cultural and religious-spiritual

existence cannot be resettled nor can it ever be compensated.
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The policy mentions that if 100 or more families have been involuntarily/forcibly

displaced, the State government will, by notification, appoint as Resettlement and

Rehabilitation Commissioner, an official of the level of Deputy Commissioner/Collector

or "anyoon"(??) level. The implementation of resettlement and rehabilitation will be

supervised by the Development Commissioner (the Presiding Officer), Secretary Road

Building Department, Secretary Industries Department, Secretary Health Department,

Secretary Energy Department, Secretary Labour and Employment Department,

Secretary "Vidhi"(??) Law?? Department and associated Commissioners. There will also

be Parliamentary and State Legislative members. It's amply clear that the control and

management of the various development programmes, the Indira Housing, NREGA

programme, "Aabantit"(??) "Antyodaya"(??) for the poor, food programmes and many

others, has always lain in the hands of these officials.

The history of loot and plunder is witness to the fact that development is limited to the

mansions of political leaders, government administrative officials, contractors and

middlemen. The policy states that the company will make available the funds for the

resettlement and rehabilitation programmes to the Resettlement and Rehabilitation

Administrator. In the coming days, it is this very army of looters who will hold sway over

the benefits meant for the displaced tribals. The Resettlement and Rehabilitation policy

is preparing the ground for this scenario.

Those who point to the gains from these policies should acquaint themselves with the

historical perspective, wherein the protection of Constitutional rights and the

development of Jharkhand's Adivasis, Dalits and the needy, has been ensured by the


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enactment of dozens of laws. The Chotta Nagpur Tenancy Act 1908 (hereinafter referred

to as the "CNT Act") and the Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act (hereinafter referred to as the

"SPT Act") were enacted for the protection of the lands and forests of the State's

Adivasis. There is a clear provision in both these Acts that Adivasi/tribal land cannot be

sold nor transferred to a non-Adivasi or outsider.

However, in the 50 years since those laws were enacted, 80% of Adivasi land has been

alienated--snatched from the tribals by hook or by crook. The present RR Act has been

made in total disregard to and in complete violation of the CNT Act and the SPT Act.

Section 46 of the CNT Act states that agricultural land cannot be sold or transferred to a

non-Adivasi and certainly not for industrial purposes.

After Independence, India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had formulated the

Panchsheel doctrine for the protection of water-land-forests, social history and identity

of Adivasis, Dalits and farmers.But this doctrine hasn't seen the light of day. The 5th and

6th Schedule Areas have been given special powers.However, none of the laws have

been implemented.In 1956, the Bokaro Steel Plant was established, in 1966-HEC, from

1986-96-the Chandel Dam was built and UCL was established in Jamshedpurall these

units are on the list of benign Indian government establishments.

Let it be known that at the time of the land requisition, all these establishments: were

governed by resettlement and rehabilitation laws;that under the policy's dispensation,

every displaced family had been promised jobs, model rehabilitation and the prospect of

training-apprenticeship.Reality, however, panned out differently--instead of giving the

displaced jobs and other benefits , the reign of the R and R policy-associated officials ,


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brokers and mafia continued to hold sway, leading to the displaced literally begging on

the roadside.

In the draft copy's 6/10, it has been said that the Rehabilitation and Resettlement

Officer will ensure that as far as possible , affected families will be resettled in group/s in

such resettlement areas. The question is, how is it possible to reestablish a traditional

village?A village or society does not just mean a cluster of houses. A village is one where

there are 30-40 tamarind trees, 50-60 jackfruit trees, dozens of koynar shrubs, dozens

of bamboo bushes, dozens of koynar, putkal, bair , neva, kachnar, dumair and dahu

shrubs, ankola,bael,tut and karanja shrubs, bo-didi-khandaani pathlgadi, sasandiri,

gundar gaddaha. Inevery khoir-gulley, easily and cheaply grown vegetables and greens

such as kudri larang, bottle gourd, konhada, ghonghra, jhinga, bitter gourd, semalsi,

munagapechaki, ol,aaru, turmeric,somkanda attashould be freely available. Villagers

have, never in their lives, bought toothbrushes.Dozens of wells, chuvas, lakes, rivers,

nullahs, sarnas, masnas and akhras---that is what a village is. Its worth cannot be

measured against any compensation amount, nor can it be re-established. The policy

defines that every displaced family will be rehabilitated by giving them 10 decimal in

rural and 5 decimal in town areas.Also mentioned is the fact that every displaced family

will get a fully-constructed house with 2 rooms, a kitchen, one dag(drawing?) room and

one latrine-bathroom. The question arises, how is the next generation of a husband-wife

with five small children to be accommodated in these 10 decimals? A village home

meansa biggish chaupariya one,which in comparson with a townhouse. Will have 5-6

rooms.Next door would be a separate cowshed for the bullocks and one for buffalaoes, a

goatshed for the goats, a pen for pigs and a coop for hens and ducks. Adjoining the

house, a kaanda baari, kundri maacha and puval maacha are mandatory. So the

question is will a family stay in these 10 decimals or their animals?


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6.23 states that, with regard to the rehabilitation grant given to each displaced family,

the option will be given of taking upto 50% of the amount's arjankari collection's shares

or debentures or both. 7.13.1 states that 1% of the company's net profit will be given to

the affected families. However, related to this fact many basic questions arise without

honestly addressing which, it is difficult to infer that this policy will truly improve the

future of Jharkhandis. In fact, it would be tremendously unjust to the cause of the

displaced.Even today, 95% are farmers in villages, whose earning, social and economic

organization, linguistic-cultural identity and very existence are all inextricably

interwoven with Jharkhand's rivers-mountains, forests-lands, trees-plants, grasslands,

flowers-fruits and the very circle of life in nature. Their lifestyle consisting of 6months

raising crops infields and the remaining 6 months in the greenery amidst fruits and

flowers is a lesson in sustainable development and environmental security. Jackfruit,

mango, jamun, tamarind, putkal, koynar. Mahua-dori, chaar-piyaar, kendu-sarai,

karanj-laah, kusum, karaonji, datum-patai, rugda-khunkari are the economic backbone

of the village. Every village has jackfruit, mango-jamun, the yield of tamarind, bamboo

and mahua trees provide the cash crops of every village.Every year rural farmer

familiesearn lakhs of rupees from these crops.Pay heed that in season, the yield of these

trees earn at the rate of rupees per kilo is as follows: for Karanja-Rs 10/-, Mahua-Rs 15/-

, Chironji-Rs 500/-,Aamsi Rs 65/-, dry Puthal edible leaves Rs 150/-.A farmer can earn

annually Rs 15,000/- to 20,000/- from a tamarind tree and Rs 5,000/- from a jackfruit

tree. How can any compensation be adequate in this context? For rural areas the reality

is that the occupation of 5% of the society's positional and original inhabitants is 100%

nature and forest produce-based.

The policy states that every displaced person will be employed. The question is that even

today 80% of the villagers are illiterate and many villages don't even have a single

matriculate. The blame for this state of things lies squarely on the government and its

organizationnot on the villagers. Realise this, that today in many rural areas, the post

of science teachers has been lying vacant in many ("utkamit"?) schools, because there is


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a severe shortage of science students in this area. Given this picture of the education

situation, how many adivasis and farmers are in a position to understand the bubble of a

company's net profit and shares-debentures? Now as for the giving of jobsgiven the

qualifications requisite of candidates for jobs and appointments in the plants of the

positioned companies, how many technical holders, mechanical engineers,ITI-qualified

, computer-savvy are there in this area? Some will get jobsand have to retire in 30

years' time. It has been said that 1% of the company's net profit will be given to affected

families. I'm curious to know, who is going to keep track of the company's profit-loss

profile? It is universally known that all business establishments always show losses to

keep themselves economically secure.

The 7/11 states that in every displaced family, one member will be given a job.However,

Adivasi indigenous families are farmers and, therefore, believe in large families. Thus,

how is it possible for one man to provide for a family of 15-16 members? The present

position is that one man will get a job only for 30 years, whereas forests and lands have

fed and clothed and housed entire families for generations. The 7/12 states that the

families to whom employment hasn't beenprovide, will be given(in lieu of their lands),

Rs 100/- per acre for 30 years and this will be dispensed through the annual policy to

the (prati ekal'?) per acre(??) families.

Take, for example, a 10-member family whose 5 acres of land have been requisitioned.

This family is going to get a monthly amount of Rs 5000/- in lieu of land without

putting in a day's work for it! It has to be kept in mind that, henceforth, such a family

has depend on this amount for buying its requirements and for fulfilling all social

obligations such as chatti-barhi (celebrations at birth), education and marriage. Is that

possible? This annual policy amount can also be referred to as the pension from land.

Bigger farmers are under the wrong impressionif their calculation is based on the

figure of Rs 1000/- as compensation per acrethat if 15-20 acres of their land has been

acquired, they will receive 15,000-20,000 per month. The policy says that under the

annual policy, the maximum amount per month per month will be limited to Rs 10,000


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per month per family/ This policy states thatfor one year, the monthly subsistence

allowance given will be equivalent to minimum farm labour of 25 out of 30 days. This

has to be seen and questioned in the context of the fact that for the last 3 years, the

central government's multi-faceted National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme has

already been in operation. The Act establishing this programme provides that from the

day a farm labourer fills the NREGA form, if he isn't employed for 15 days, he will

become eligible for 50 days of unemployment allowance. The direct responsibility for

the execution of this programme lies on a whole phalanx of functionaries , from the

Prime Minister to the Chief Minister and from the BDO(Block Development Officer) to

the Panchayat helpers and Gains Committee ("Laabhuk Samiti"??) The state of this plan

is universally known. The murder of the young man, Lalit Mehta, who started the proper

implementation of this scheme and the suicide of Hazaribagh's Tapas Soren, have

revealed to the world just how cruel and unkind the reign of loot and plunder really is.

Then, only time will tell how difficult it will be for the displaced to get monthly

subsistence allowance equivalent to minimum farmer's wage. The policy's 7.2 states that

each displaced family will receive in a carpet living area approximating 100 square

metres, a maximum of 10 decimals(disimil??) land in rural areas and 5 decimals land in

towns. On this ground, the displaced will be given a built(pucca) house with 2 rooms , a

drawing room and a kitchen.Whoever doesn't want the land and built-up house, will be

given 3 lakh rupees as a lump sum settlement with which amount the person can buy

land elsewhere and build a house on that land. For those with animal wealth ( hens-

roorsters, cows-bulls, sheep and goats, ducks) will have to construct sheds for the

animals on the said 10 decimals of land.Even pig pens will have to be made on the same

land. Quite obviously, cats and dogs will stay with the displaced families.

According to this policy, the company would buy 70% of the land it wants directly from

the farmers. The remaining 30% land would be requisitioned by the government for the

company. The Jharkhand Government's current Industries Secretary KK Khandelwal

and the State's Land Acquisition and Revenue Secretary PR Prasad, have clearly said

that the policy will not be applicable to the lands acquired directly from the farmers. The

R&R policy will only be applicable to the 30% land which the Government will acquire


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and hand over to the company. However, the thing to pay attention to here is that

everyone---the company's broker, the minister supporting the company, the State

Legislators. the Parliamentarians--- is trying to mislead the villagers. The villagers are

being told of the "benefits" in both situations of the R&R-linked acquisition of land.

Thus has the public been cheated.

In the draft, there is no mention of the value of the land to be requisitioned or to the

price to be paid for it. Here the stipulations and conditions set forth in the MOU signed

between the State Government and the Company should be made public to all. The

conditions expressed therein could relate to any of the sections relating to the land

requisitionfor instance, the compensation. Also, expressed and demarcated clearly

should be the responsibilities of the company as opposed to the State Government. Why

on earth does the Government not disclose these facts to the public? Why is the

public,whose life is now being short-changed, not being made openly aware of the

MOU? The tabling of the R&R policy in the Cabinet while keeping the MOU secret, is a

great betrayal to the public.

The company's attempts at drawing people towards itself by ostensible acts of Corporate

Social Responsibility, such as distributing medicines from mobile ambulances,are only

to help effectuate the grabbing of people's land. In a way, whatever is being made out to

be a beneficial activity is really only a conspiracy to steal forest lands of the indigenous

peoples.

Documents

Analysis of Relief and Rehabilitation Policy