Development, Dispossession and Democracy
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
i DEVELOPMENT, DISPOSSESSION AND DEMOCRACY: A CASE STUDY ON THE DISPOSSESSED POPULATION OF ROURKELA ii DEVELOPMENT, DISPOSSESSION AND DEMOCRACY: A CASE STUDY ON THE DISPOSSESSED POPULATION OF ROURKELA Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Applied Economics of the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi John Kujur M.Phil Programme in Applied Economics (2015-17) Centre for Development Studies Thiruvananthapuram-695011 June, 2017 iii I hereby affirm that the work for the dissertation “Development, Dispossession, Democracy: A Case Study On The Dispossessed Population of Rourkela” being submitted as a part of the requirements of the M. Phil. Programme in Applied Economics of the Jawaharlal Nehru University was carried out entirely by myself. I also affirm that it was not part of any other programme of study and has not been submitted to any other university for the award of any degree. June, 2017 John Kujur Certified that this study is the bona fide work of John Kujur, carried out under my supervision at the Centre for Development Studies. Dr. J. Devika Associate Professor Prof. Sunil Mani (Director) Centre for Development Studies iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Although words alone can hardly suffice to acknowledge one’s gratitude for the guidance, help and cooperation, even so I must express my deep sense of gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Devika J., under whose guidance I was able to complete this thesis. She provided me with necessary maneuverability and freedom to work. Working with her has been a rich experience and shall always be a pleasant memory. Her consistent inspiration, penetrating criticisms and timely clarifications not only sustained my interest in the study but also benefitted in improving the quality of the thesis immensely. I also must thank Dr. Vinoj Abraham who helped me in preparing the questionnaires for my field survey and imparted valuable ideas to me despite being heavily burdened with his own academic pursuits and engagements. He also helped me in tabulation of the field survey data and his valuable suggestions helped me to derive resourceful information from the tables. I am also deeply indebted to Dr. Rajan, Dr. Mallick, Dr. Praveena, Dr. Sunanda, Dr. Parameswaran, Dr. Agarwal, Dr. Mishra, Dr. V. M. Pillai, Dr. Ritika, and Dr. Srikanta for their fruitful teaching during the course work and valuable advices from time to time. Moreover, I gratefully acknowledge the help I received from CDS administration as well as the competent library and computer staffs. Mention must be made of Sir Sriram who helped me tremendously in searching for really obscure references. My heartfelt gratitude goes to the people of Jhirpani, Jaydega and Lachhada, who extended their warmth and hospitality to me without fail. Special mention must be made of Victoria Soy and her family who treated me as one of their own and took great care of me. I also must express my gratitude to the Sarpanch of Jhirpani and Ex- Sarpanch of Jaydega without whom it would have been very difficult to conduct survey there. It would be highly unjust if I do not mention the name of the person who helped me during my whole field survey period. I am highly indebted to Fr. Celestine Xaxa who imparted the knowledge and information on the displaced tribal people of Rourkela. He also helped me to meet many resource social activists from whom I gained insightful and valuable information regarding the displaced people of Rourkela. It is unvarnished truth that the field work would have never been materialised in the absence of constant support and encouragement which I received from my family. Their encouragement to bring forth the insight stories of the Adivasis, heightened my zeal to work on Adivasi issues. v I also profusely thank Sir Siba and Ma’am Manjari for their encouragement and advice and imparting knowledge and ideas time to time. My special thanks to my most lovable senior Suravee, for providing untiring help at various stages of the study. Her encouragement and constructive suggestions helped me a lot in improving the quality of the thesis. Special thanks to Sanjay, Pankaj, Mijo, Madhusudan, Shraddha, Namrata, Libitha, Kavitha, Sona, Parijata, Arathi, Akhil, Yadu, Sandeep and Chandrasekhar who helped me to learn many things and provided their guidance whenever I needed it. I also thank them for making my stay in CDS a memorable one. Nevertheless, I also want to thank my pals Himanshu, Kashif, Mahesh, Sachu, Rajesh, Krishan, Sourish and Arya with whom I shared my joys and sorrows. Their cooperation and help are much acknowledged. They always inspired me to work hard. I would also like to thank the CDS folk for their understanding and cooperation. Finally, I would like to record my gratitude to all those who have helped and supported me in this academic endeavour. I duly acknowledge my sincere thanks to all of them. John vi ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION DEVELOPMENT, DISPOSSESSION AND DEMOCRACY: A CASE STUDY ON THE DISPOSSESSED POPULATION OF ROURKELA John Kujur M.Phil in Applied Economics (2015-17), Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi Centre for Development Studies The term “Development” has become a fascinating word during post-independence period. A common belief which prevails is that greater the exploitation of natural resources, greater would be the development. However, the exploitation of natural resources through development projects led to the forced displacement of many from their land and habitat. The forced displacement is not only immediately disruptive and painful but also has a serious long-term risk of becoming poorer than before. Hitherto the vulnerable sections of society, particularly the tribal community have been the most victims and least gainers of the development initiatives. Aiming at the welfare of the locals as well as the nation the Government of India established steel plant at Rourkela, the first integrated steel plant in the public sector in Sundargarh District, a Scheduled District of Odisha during the Nehruvian period. However, the tribal population who were largely displaced have witnessed pauperisation. The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST), 2015 also reports about the deprivation of the tribal oustees of Rourkela even after six decades of displacement. Based on the above anecdotal evidence the objectives of the study are first, to assess the long-term impacts of displacement and government entitlements on the population of two resettlement colonies such as peri- urban and rural resettlement colonies differently, since once they shared same socio- economic environment, but after displacement they were relocated to different areas; secondly, to assess the special constitutional provisions for the tribals and state’s role in the protection of constitutional rights during and post-displacement period; thirdly, to analyse the inter-generational social mobility to trace the transition in their socio- economic life throughout the six decades. The comparative analysis of the long-term impacts of displacement on the social and economic profile of the population of two resettlement colonies i. e. peri-urban resettlement colony and the rural resettlement colony was undertaken through a field survey. The study reveals that the displaced population of the both resettlement colonies have been marginalised but affected differently from the impoverishment risks based on the three factors such as geographical location, population composition and availability of the opportunity. While analysing the socio-economic condition, the study discusses the violation of human rights and special constitutional provisions for the tribals through analysing the role of the state in the process of evacuation, resettlement and providing entitlements to the displaced. The study also analyses the inter-generational social vii mobility to trace the changing socio-economic condition of the displaced tribals. Three broad indicators such as educational attainment, occupation and assimilation into the mainstream culture were taken into consideration to analyse the inter-generational social mobility. The study reveals that the population of both resettlement colonies more or less attended horizontal mobility in occupation. Over the three generations both literacy and educational attainment level of the population of both resettlement colonies has increased substantially, but its impact on the mobility was minimal. Through analysing the assimilation into the mainstream culture, the study reveals that the population of peri- urban resettlement colony are undergoing downward cultural mobility due to gradual loss of traditional cultural values and delinking of social relationships as a result of theinflux of outsiders. Keywords: Development, Displacement, Tribals, Marginalisation, Nehruvian Period, Long-Term Effect, Constitutional Rights, Inter-Generational Mobility. viii CONTENTS Title Page No. List of Tables x List of Figures xi Abbreviations xii Chapter 1 Introduction 1-30 1.1 Motivation and Statement of the Problem 1-7 1.2 An Overview of the Literature 7-21 1.3 Analytical Framework 21-23 1.4 Objectives of the Study 23 1.5 The Study Area 23-28 1.6 Sampling Method 28-29 1.7 Limitations of the Study 29 1.8 Chapterization 29-30 Chapter 2 Displacement and Resettlement in Peri-Urban and Rural 31-66 Settings 2.1 Introduction 31-34 2.2 Tribals of Chotanagpur 34-37 2.3 Homogenity to Differentiation in the Contemporary 37-38 Tribal World 2.4 Displacement and Resettlement 38-50 2.5 Impact of Displacement 51-63 2.6 Discussion 63-66 Chapter 3 Social Mobility among the Displaced 67-106 3.1 Introduction 67-69 3.2 Educational Attainment 69-76 3.3 Occupational Diversification 76-83 3.4 Educational Attainment and Occupational 83-97 Diversification 3.5 Employment in the Rourkela Steel Plant 97-100 3.6 Mobility through Marriage and Assimilation into the 100-105 Mainstream Culture 3.7 Discussion 105-106 Chapter 4 Conclusion 107-115 4.1 Major Findings and Summary 107-113 4.2 Policy Suggestions 113-115 Bibliography 115-133 Appendix I 134-150 Appendix II-Field Survey Questionnaire 151-157 ix LIST OF TABLES Table Title Page no.