ABSTRACT
Peoples and communities maintaining the universality of their beliefs and the organizing principles of their specific cultures are challenged in the face of the prevailing development paradigm. The demarcation of ‘reserved’ and ‘protected’ forests began in most parts in Himachal Pradesh only in 1986. According to Petersen, migration can be classified into four main categories: primitive, forced or impelled, free and mass migration. Feminist groups’ analysis explores the linkages among unpaid (women’s) work, migration policies, plunder of natural resources, unaccountable political elites and globalized capital. While development-induced displacement occurs throughout the world, two countries in particular, China and India are responsible for a large portion of such displacements. Economic sustainability, including intergenerational equity, needs to be foregrounded so that stocks of capital assets do not decrease. The scale and the attitude with which new projects are being implemented in the State of Himachal Pradesh leaves little scope for reviewing impacts on local people, local economy and ecology and possible alternatives.
