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Mizzima: Not going under: Adivasis
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Not going under: Adivasis for ?rights before development?
By Mizzima News (www.mizzima.com)
Mumbai, Oct. 4: Platitudes? There are many ways of life, and threats to
a way of life may come from development initiatives, from Government ?
through actions and omissions ? not solely from terrorists. The fight
for the right to a way of life under threat from the collateral effects
of development stood at the centre of a 17-day struggle in Mumbai,
capital of Maharashtra State (south-west India) by Adivasi groups and
other activists.
On 11 September, two months of Satyagraha activity by Adivasi people ?
from the Narmada valley and the mountain ranges of Satpudas, from Nimad,
Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Sardar Sardovar resettlement sites in
Maharashtra ? found their conclusion in the assembly of over two
thousand people in Mumbai. Demanding the state government's acceptance
and implementation of the Daud Committee report, the assembled Adivasis
lamented the ruling Congress Party's patent neglect of an election
promise made in 1999 to the state's Adivasis: review of the Sardar
Sarovar dam project and full rehabilitation of the families already
affected by its development. While meeting with Maharashtra Congress
Committee president Govindrao Adik, a delegation of Narmada Bachao
Andolan (NBA) ? a solidarity network (?Safe the Narmada Movement?) ?
drew attention to deep-seated problems grounded in non-recognition of
tribals' land rights, in corruption at the local level, and in lack of
schools and health facilities in tribal areas. In response, Mr Adik
promised that further construction on the project would not proceed
"until and unless" rehabilitation for families already affected could be
effected. Mr Adik furthermore positioned the state Congress Party firmly
behind the Daud Committee report's findings, advocated its speedy
implementation and the immediate granting of land rights to the Adivasis
of Nandurbar district.
The Daud Committee report included a recognition of non-resettlement of
affected families due to non-availability of land, the recommendation of
a master plan in consultation with displaced persons, of surveying of
the numbers of affected persons before continuation of the project, of
inclusivity with regard to the term ?project-affected person?. The
committee also advocated that Maharashtra government should not approve
any increase in the dam height of 90 m until all the recommendations
were implemented. The committee was constituted in January 2001 after
rallying by people from affected areas.
Having fasted from 13 September in protest of continued government
inaction, a group of seven senior NBA activists embarked on an
indefinite fast on 17 September, prompted by the lack of a substantive
government response to their demands to that date.
In talks with NBA representatives on 14 September, Revenue Minister
Ashok Chavan promised that the issue of lands rights would be addressed
in the near future. The representatives, on their part, presented the
case of 73 villages in Nandurbar district in which land rights had
remained unsettled and the 1995 Supreme Court judgment (Pradip Prabhu vs
Govt of Maharashtra) ? under which the state government is obliged to
survey cultivation by adivasis of forest lands and provide titles for
habitually cultivated fields ? had remained unimplemented.
After the adivasis had marched to Azad Maidan in the morning hours of 17
September in order to elicit a government response to their rallying,
they were met by Minister for Employment Generation, Ganpatrao Deshmukh,
who acknowledged a need for checks being imposed on local administration
which is characterised by corruption and inefficiency with regard to
employment generation measures. Chief Minister Desmukh declared on 19
September that a positive decision was about to be taken on the lands
rights issue addressed by NBA. He furthermore stated that ?whatever the
costs, a pro-adivasi position will be taken on the Daud Committee
report? and ?considered the possibility of taking the NBA?s position
that under the present circumstances further construction of the dam
cannot be allowed?. The Rehabilitation Minister underlined the fact
that no land was available for resettlement and ?that the resettlement
of already affected families is far from completion due to paucity of
agricultural land?.
The fasters whose condition was worsening were strengthened in their
resolve by the support shown by party leaders and student groups while
the government announced the postponement of any decision until 25
September. On 23 September, police forcibly ended the fast of three
activists. None of the specific directions on the issue of displacement
drawn up in the meeting between NBA and the Chief Minister on 19
September had been addressed by 24 September when scores of people from
tribal and depressed classes organisations from Thane, Raigarh and
Mumbai joined the rally, thereby expressing ?that the Narmada struggle
is part of the larger struggle for the rights of the trbials, dalits,
fisherpeople, peasants and other depressed classes for their rights and
their resources which are violated in the context of globalisation? and
threatening ?statewide? unrest if the state government continued in its
denial of rights.
In a meeting on 25 September, the state government showed itself
non-conciliatory on the Daud Commission report and on the land rights
issue yet was pressured into support for the latter. A demonstration by
students and artists against the state government?s position led to the
temporary arrest of all protestors. A letter to the Chief Minister
demanding positive government action was submitted by journalist Prabash
Joshi and N Ram, former Lok Sabha speaker Rabi Ray, educationist Anil
Sadgopal and novelist Arundhati Roy.
After further negotiation, the government agreed on 27 September to meet
the NBA?s demands in the following ways:
· Adopt a ?no resettlement ? no increase in dam height? position
· Disallow an increase in the dam height of the Sardar Sarovar project
· Establish a task force charged with verification of the status of
resettlement of affected villages (for hypothetical dam heights of 90,
95 and 100 meters), including representatives of NBA and of affected
villages, with a report to be submitted after two months
· Establishment of a ministerial ?planning committee? for the drawing-up
of a resettlement plan and of a state-level ?overview committee? in a
meeting between NBA, Punarwasan Sangharsh Samiti (PSS) and the Minister
for Rehabilitation
· Discontinue ex parte allotment of land
· Give support to NBA?s case for land rights in Mumbai High Court
On 26 September, the state government had declared itself willing to
· Start verifying the number of project-affected families
· Support stay on dam-construction until newly identified affected
families could be resettled
· Prepare a master plan for rehabilitation
· Accept those findings of Daud Committee report ?which will have no
?significant financial implications??
· Proceed with ?resettlement? only when land is in fact available
· Compensate those oustees who had not yet received compensatory land
titles with Rs 3000 per acre per year (in grants)
While NBA representatives regretted the state government?s extensive
foot-dragging, they were heartened by by degree of public support from
many quarters that their cause had received over 17 days in Mumbai. The
outcome of the rally ? according to its organisers ? needed to focus on
government monitoring and continued mobilisation of public opinion in
the Narmada Valley.
(Adi means original and vasi means inhabitants. The Adivasis (the
indigenous peoples of India are spread all over India, mostly in
central, southern, south-western and western areas of the country. All
references in this article are to an NBA newsletter of 28 September
2001]
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<center><b><font color="#000099"><font size=+1>Not going under: Adivasis
for ?rights before development?</font></font></b></center>
<p><font color="#FF0000">By Mizzima News <a href="http://www.mizzima.com";>(www.mizzima.com)</a></font>
<p><i><font color="#FF0000">Mumbai, Oct. 4:</font></i> Platitudes?
There are many ways of life, and threats to a way of life may come from
development initiatives, from Government ? through actions and omissions
? not solely from terrorists. The fight for the right to a way of
life under threat from the collateral effects of development stood at the
centre of a 17-day struggle in Mumbai, capital of Maharashtra State (south-west
India) by Adivasi groups and other activists.
<p>On 11 September, two months of Satyagraha activity by Adivasi people
? from the Narmada valley and the mountain ranges of Satpudas, from Nimad,
Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Sardar Sardovar resettlement sites in Maharashtra
? found their conclusion in the assembly of over two thousand people in
Mumbai. Demanding the state government's acceptance and implementation
of the Daud Committee report, the assembled Adivasis lamented the ruling
Congress Party's patent neglect of an election promise made in 1999 to
the state's Adivasis: review of the Sardar Sarovar dam project and
full rehabilitation of the families already affected by its development.
While meeting with Maharashtra Congress Committee president Govindrao Adik,
a delegation of Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) ? a solidarity network
(?Safe the Narmada Movement?) ? drew attention to deep-seated problems
grounded in non-recognition of tribals' land rights, in corruption at the
local level, and in lack of schools and health facilities in tribal areas.
In response, Mr Adik promised that further construction on the project
would not proceed "until and unless" rehabilitation for families already
affected could be effected. Mr Adik furthermore positioned the state Congress
Party firmly behind the Daud Committee report's findings, advocated its
speedy implementation and the immediate granting of land rights to the
Adivasis of Nandurbar district.
<p>The Daud Committee report included a recognition of non-resettlement
of affected families due to non-availability of land, the recommendation
of a master plan in consultation with displaced persons, of surveying of
the numbers of affected persons before continuation of the project, of
inclusivity with regard to the term ?project-affected person?. The
committee also advocated that Maharashtra government should not approve
any increase in the dam height of 90 m until all the recommendations were
implemented. The committee was constituted in January 2001 after
rallying by people from affected areas.
<p>Having fasted from 13 September in protest of continued government inaction,
a group of seven senior NBA activists embarked on an indefinite fast on
17 September, prompted by the lack of a substantive government response
to their demands to that date.
<p>In talks with NBA representatives on 14 September, Revenue Minister
Ashok Chavan promised that the issue of lands rights would be addressed
in the near future. The representatives, on their part, presented
the case of 73 villages in Nandurbar district in which land rights had
remained unsettled and the 1995 Supreme Court judgment (Pradip Prabhu vs
Govt of Maharashtra) ? under which the state government is obliged to survey
cultivation by adivasis of forest lands and provide titles for habitually
cultivated fields ? had remained unimplemented.
<p>After the adivasis had marched to Azad Maidan in the morning hours of
17 September in order to elicit a government response to their rallying,
they were met by Minister for Employment Generation, Ganpatrao Deshmukh,
who acknowledged a need for checks being imposed on local administration
which is characterised by corruption and inefficiency with regard to employment
generation measures. Chief Minister Desmukh declared on 19 September
that a positive decision was about to be taken on the lands rights issue
addressed by NBA. He furthermore stated that ?whatever the costs,
a pro-adivasi position will be taken on the Daud Committee report? and
?considered the possibility of taking the NBA?s position that under the
present circumstances further construction of the dam cannot be allowed?.
The Rehabilitation Minister underlined the fact that no land was available
for resettlement and ?that the resettlement of already affected families
is far from completion due to paucity of agricultural land?.
<p>The fasters whose condition was worsening were strengthened in their
resolve by the support shown by party leaders and student groups while
the government announced the postponement of any decision until 25 September.
On 23 September, police forcibly ended the fast of three activists.
None of the specific directions on the issue of displacement drawn up in
the meeting between NBA and the Chief Minister on 19 September had been
addressed by 24 September when scores of people from tribal and depressed
classes organisations from Thane, Raigarh and Mumbai joined the rally,
thereby expressing ?that the Narmada struggle is part of the larger struggle
for the rights of the trbials, dalits, fisherpeople, peasants and other
depressed classes for their rights and their resources which are violated
in the context of globalisation? and threatening ?statewide? unrest if
the state government continued in its denial of rights.
<p>In a meeting on 25 September, the state government showed itself non-conciliatory
on the Daud Commission report and on the land rights issue yet was pressured
into support for the latter. A demonstration by students and artists
against the state government?s position led to the temporary arrest of
all protestors. A letter to the Chief Minister demanding positive
government action was submitted by journalist Prabash Joshi and N Ram,
former Lok Sabha speaker Rabi Ray, educationist Anil Sadgopal and novelist
Arundhati Roy.
<p>After further negotiation, the government agreed on 27 September to
meet the NBA?s demands in the following ways:
<br>· Adopt a ?no resettlement ? no increase in dam height? position
<br>· Disallow an increase in the dam height of the Sardar Sarovar
project
<br>· Establish a task force charged with verification of the status
of resettlement of affected villages (for hypothetical dam heights of 90,
95 and 100 meters), including representatives of NBA and of affected villages,
with a report to be submitted after two months
<br>· Establishment of a ministerial ?planning committee? for the
drawing-up of a resettlement plan and of a state-level ?overview committee?
in a meeting between NBA, Punarwasan Sangharsh Samiti (PSS) and the Minister
for Rehabilitation
<br>· Discontinue ex parte allotment of land
<br>· Give support to NBA?s case for land rights in Mumbai High
Court
<p>On 26 September, the state government had declared itself willing to
<br>· Start verifying the number of project-affected families
<br>· Support stay on dam-construction until newly identified affected
families could be resettled
<br>· Prepare a master plan for rehabilitation
<br>· Accept those findings of Daud Committee report ?which will
have no ?significant financial implications??
<br>· Proceed with ?resettlement? only when land is in fact available
<br>· Compensate those oustees who had not yet received compensatory
land titles with Rs 3000 per acre per year (in grants)
<p>While NBA representatives regretted the state government?s extensive
foot-dragging, they were heartened by by degree of public support from
many quarters that their cause had received over 17 days in Mumbai.
The outcome of the rally ? according to its organisers ? needed to focus
on government monitoring and continued mobilisation of public opinion in
the Narmada Valley.
<p>(Adi means original and vasi means inhabitants. The Adivasis (the indigenous
peoples of India are spread all over India, mostly in central, southern,
south-western and western areas of the country. All references in this
article are to an NBA newsletter of 28 September 2001]
<p> </html>
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