I went through your response to Mr Sadagopal's crusading zeal against
projects like those in Singur and Nandigram with both interest and
amusement. Interest because displacement is a real problem nost just
in Jharkhand and West Bengal but in Orissa as well. Amusement because
the logic behind resistance to mega industrial projects is often based
on the assumed notion that they would eat into people's diffultly
retained farm lands. The logic, I would say, is rather simplistic and
is applied to all projects all over India with scant regard to varying
ground realities.

In Kalinganagar in Orissa for instance the movement that has kept the
Tata steel project at bay has little to do with farmland. One doesnt
need to be an expert to realise that the land in question is
absolutely barren. A gray, desolate landscape greets you as you enter
the region, home to some of the poorest of people in the country. Most
of those who stand to lose their land would much rather do it in
exchange of a respectable livelihood than continue to grovel under
poverty. Unfortunately these innocent, mostly illiterate and thus
gullible people have fallen prey to disinformation spread by
opportunity-seeking NGOs who have a vested interest in tribal unrest.

There's no denying the need for a R&R policy that seeks to address the
issues that the displaced mass faces. But one cannot condone violent
reprisals for the sake of resistance. One cannot also allow some NGOs
and a few masquerading as naxals virtually holding state after state
to ransom particularly when the insidious motives of these outfits
have become public knowledge.

However the debate must continue.

regards

Ashok Mohapatra
Bhubaneswar

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