Disastrous development

When India became independent, our economy was largely dependant upon agriculture. We were relatively underdeveloped. Then came the drive of transforming underdeveloped Indian economy into developed one like that of western countries. Government took the initiative and started investing massively into development project like transportation, water supply, mining and energy. This resulted into  forced migration of millions of people    .

Every year millions of people get displaced in the name of development. Developmental project bring benefits .But they impose cost on society also. This cost of displacement is mostly borne by poor section of the society.


Such forced migration causes socioeconomic distraction. People are deprived of their means of livelihood. Their social networks get disturbed. They may loose their cultural identity. They lose basic human rights. Among those displaced, children, women,old adults and disabled are the most vulnerable lot. Trauma associated with displacement can put this section of society at risk of suffering physical and mental problems. Especially children lose opportunities to have better education. As families lose source of income, breadwinner or young adults may have to move away from their families in search of source of income which may result in disintegration of families. Even if family stays together, stress attached to displacement may result in domestic violence. Chances of these people returning to similar living standards are very rare. While displacement because of natural disaster may be viewed more sympathetically than that caused by development, consequences are equally disastrous in both the situations.

To minimize these negative impacts on society, implementers of development projects must explore all the alternatives to avoid displacement. In case displacement is unavoidable, they must seek consent of those who are getting displaced. In exchange of consent, affected people should be adequately compensated and their relocation should be taken care of. This entire exercise of compensation and relocation should be supervised by state authorities as welfare of citizens is a prime responsibility of government. State authorities must strengthen vital services like healthcare, access to education, water and sanitation in the areas where affected people are being relocated. Compensation provided to affected for loss of land should reflect market reality, State authorities in order to lure investments offer petty compensations to indigenous people. For a peasant, land is everything. Landlessness coupled with poor compensation and no provision of relocation will result in social tensions. Deaths and destruction at Singur and Nandigram are results of such social tensions.

Cost of development should be borne not only by those who are affected but also by the implementers. Active participation of displaced people in the process of rehabilitation will help prevent conflicts before they arise.