The state government says that the people of the villages, who have been resisting their land being taken away, are neither tribals nor other traditional forest dwellers. But these villagers are, in any case, people, with rights of various kinds, whether accorded under the Forest Rights Act or not.
They are, further, people capable of political action and mobilisation, as they have amply demonstrated . At the same time, they are people who have the normal ambitions and aspirations of people anywhere, to improve their lot and acquire a better standard of living. Strange indeed it is that a Rs 54,000 crore investment does not offer something to satisfy these normal aspirations of the people of the project-affected areas.
The problem, essentially, is that companies seeking land rely upon governments , their political manager and agents, rather than deal directly with the people whose land they want. An export-oriented project would have few local forward linkages. Read the full report here.
Source: ET Bureau, Economic Times.
