Karnataka - Mysore   

‘Make local people stakeholders in development ’

MYSORE: A two-day workshop on displacement owing to development policies and natural disasters, which began here on Friday, seeks to draw a parallel between the two and trigger a positive societal response to rehabilitation of the affected communities.

The workshop titled “The new piracy: rehabilitation of natural disaster-affected and development-affected communities in South Asia”, organised by Swami Vivekananda Institute of Indian Studies and the University of Iowa, U.S., is being attended by experts from across the country. It is aimed at seeking insight from case studies of official and private responses to the issue of displacement in India and other South Asian countries.

Shivaratri Deshikendra Swamiji of Suttur Math, in his inaugural address, dwelt on the frequency with which natural disasters were striking India and its neighbouring countries. While the Himalayan region was prone to earthquakes and landslides, the north and central Indian plains were prone to floods during monsoon and drought in summer. The coastline of the country was prone to cyclones.

The swamiji pointed out that disaster management in India had a top-down approach with government monitoring and it lacked local involvement and understanding of sensitivity of the people. Of late, local communities were no longer satisfied with peripheral participation, he said. Though early warning systems had been developed, such a mechanism without a proper action plan would be useless, he said.

In this context, he cited the experience of Mysore Citizens’ Forum and its intervention in the tsunami-affected village of Mudaliarkuppam in Tamil Nadu. “In view of the forum’s track record, the State Government has sought its assistance for constructing at least 5,000 houses for the flood-affected people of north Karnataka,” the swamiji added.

Chaman Lal, former Director-General of Police of Nagaland and Special Rapporteur for the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), in his keynote address noted that the country was going through a tough time owing to the law and order problem and violence.

More than 200 districts were affected by Naxalism. Government’s development policies were responsible for displacement of people, he said.

In the context of rising naxal violence and the Government’s response towards it, Mr. Chaman Lal said he welcomed the present militancy as it helped bring issues of displacement and sufferings to the consciousness of society.

He called for making local communities stakeholders in development projects as against ousting them with cash compensation in exchange for their land, ignoring the cultural, emotional and social elements associated with its ownership.

Elaborating on the need for a paradigm shift in response towards displaced persons, Mr. Chaman Lan cited the NHRC’s recommendations on the need to examine and amend laws, regulations and practices to ensure that acquisition of land conformed to the provisions of the Constitution which provides for protection of the rights of indigenous and tribal people.

He said the NHRC, in 16 years of its existence, had effectively dealt with a number of cases pertaining displacement owing to development projects or natural disasters.

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