ABSTRACT
Many recent events have reopened the debate on development-induced displacement and deprivation. One may mention among them the refusal of the Government of India to even discuss the report of the World Commission on Dams (WCD); the Supreme Court judgement on the Narmada and the POSCO project (Orissa); the plan to build 48 major dams in the Northeast despite their possible negative impact on the biodiversity of the ecologically rich tribal region; the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) Act 2005 and the National Rehabilitation Policy of 2007, which is meant to be an improvement on the 2003 document but does not go much beyond it; besides the governments’ failure to rethink many projects. The message given by these moves is that neither the judiciary nor the State is sensitive to the sufferings that displacement causes. More land is being acquired for projects linked to privatisation of water resources, at least in the Northeast. These events are a cause of concern from the point of view of the right of the poor to a life with dignity. This paper deals with the social impact of the displacement they cause.
