Candidates of major fronts in the fray in Ernakulam Parliament constituency have expressed empathy with the evictees for the Vallarpadam International Container Transshipment Terminal who are yet to be rehabilitated more than six years after their eviction.
316 families who were evicted for the rail-road connectivity for the Container Terminal project had been left to fend for themselves despite giving up their all for the sake of development, which, incidentally happens to be one of the major campaign planks of contestants in this election.
Curiously, UDF candidate K.V. Thomas, who is familiar with the issue and had been closely associated with the rehabilitation package, chose not to comment citing the model code of conduct in force. “I know the facts of the case but do not want to comment, as it could be construed a violation of the model code of conduct,” he told The Hindu .
LDF-backed independent candidate Christy Fernandez said the question was what kind of development was needed and for whom. Development should be for the people and hence should have a human face. People evicted for development projects should be rehabilitated timely and that for me was the right model of development, he said. “Development should not be diabolical but should project a human face,” Mr. Fernandez said.
BJP candidate A.N. Radhakrishnan didn’t mince words against successive State governments, which, he said, “cheated” the evictees by declaring a rehabilitation package with much fanfare. People with small holdings and multiple claimants had been literally forced to sell their property for negligible compensation and take refuge in rented accommodations.
“One member of each evicted families was promised job when the container terminal project was commissioned but it wasn’t honoured. Besides, the rehabilitation land offered is unfit for human inhabitation and lacks basic amenities. Since the officials get prior data about the number of victims, steps should have been taken to identify proper locations and rehabilitation should have been done simultaneously with the eviction. There are two kinds of justice — one for the rich and another for the poor,” Mr. Radhakrishnan said.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Anita Pratap said not to rehabilitate victims even six years after their rehabilitation cannot be seen as mere negligence but amounted to “political criminality.” Citing the suicide of two evictees, she said that the people’s representatives and officials concerned should be held guilty of culpable homicide.
“For long, poor people of this country had been left to suffer in the name of development. This kind of development is unjust, unfair and unsustainable. The poor victims do not have the financial wherewithal to fight for justice either. We will take up the cause of these victims,” she said.
