ABSTRACT
Planned development in post-independent India, especially the growth of the core sectors, including power, mining, heavy industry, irrigation and related infrastructural developments, came about at an enormous cost, borne by millions of persons who were displaced involuntarily or otherwise deprived of their livelihood. Even conservative guesses of the numbers of such people vary between 30 million and 50 million. Nearly 40 to 50 per cent of them are tribals. According to estimates, not more than 25 per cent of the displaced since the First Five-Year Plan have been resettled. Indeed, the experience of the first four decades after independence shows that development projects benefit primarily a few at the cost of many. The projects, instead of promoting even and holistic development of society, widen the gap between the haves and the have-nots, between regions, communities and sections of society, contributing to widespread unrest, conflict, as well as extensive socio-environmental crises.
