50 Years and More Struggle for Justice at Rourkela - Adivasi ...

sarini Occasional Papers, No. 750 Years and More Struggle for Justice at Rourkela

- 1 -

Proceedingsof the Convention of Displaced Persons

"Livelihood or Survival"

at Nav Jagriti, Kalunga (near Rourkela)on 6th and 7th March, 2010

sarini Occasional Papers, No. 7

50 Years and MoreStruggle

for Justice at Rourkela

Edited & Publishedby

Displaced Persons' Conference Organising Committee, Rourkela, Orissawith support from

ASHRA, sarini and Adivasi-Koordination in Germany2010

(Industries and Human Rights in India Series)

- 2 -


Suggested donation for this publication:Indian Rupies 30.00 or EURO 3.00

50 Years and More Struggle for Justice at RourkelaProceedings of the Convention of Displaced Persons "Livelihood or Survival" at Nav Jagriti, Kalunga(near Rourkela) on 6th and 7th March, 2010Edited and published by DISPLACED PERSONS CONFERENCE ORGANISING COMMITTEEROURKELA with support from ASHRA, sarini and Adivasi-Koordination in GermanyPhoto on page 9 by Dieter HeckerPrinted by CEDEC, Bhubaneswar 2010 / Download from www.Adivasi-Koordination.de(sarini Occasional Papers, No. 7; Industries and Human Rights in India Series)

sarini Occasional Papers hold NO COPYRIGHT.Widest possible dissemination of these informa-tions is intended.Further ideas about the functioning and inten-tions of this network - and about the work ofAdivasi-Koordination can be found on the backcover.This sarini publication is available on internet(www.Adivasi-Koordination.de)

Printed copies are distributed from:

B.I.R.S.A. Mines Monitoring CentreB6 Abilasha Apartments,11 A Purulia RoadRanchi 834001, Jharkhand, IndiaPhone ++91-651-2531874email [email protected]

CEDEC/NISWASS3, ChandrashekharpurBhubaneswar 751 016, Orissa, IndiaPhone ++91-674-2300052 / 2300831

HUMAN RIGHTS LAW NETWORK(Rourkela Unit)and ASHRA LEGAL AID CENTRER.C. Church Complex JaldaP.O. Jalda C BlockRourkela 769 043, Orissa, Indiaemail [email protected]

C.R. BijoyDoctors’ QuartersSri R.K. Hospital395, Avaram PalayamCoimbatore 641.044 , T.N., Indiaemail [email protected]

Adivasi-Koordination in GermanySecretariat: Dr. Theodor RathgeberJugendheimstr. 10D-34132 Kassel, GermanyPhone ++49-561-47597800Fax ++49-561-47597801email [email protected]

www.Adivasi-Koordination.de

sarinic/o Johannes LapingChristophstr. 31D-69214 Eppelheim, GermanyPhone ++49-6221-766557Fax ++49-6221-766559email [email protected]

Earlier publications of sarini:Indigenous Peoples in India(sarini Occasional Papers, No. 1)61 p., Bhubaneswar 1997.

Jai Jharkhand(sarini Occasional Papers, No. 2)126 p., Bhubaneswar 1999.

Adi-dharam.Religious beliefs of the Adivasis of IndiaBy Ram Dayal Munda(sarini Occasional Papers, No. 3)48 p., Bhubaneswar 2000.

Adivasis of RourkelaLooking back on 50 years of Indo-German eco-nomic cooperationDocuments - Interpretations - International Law(sarini Occasional Papers, No. 4)184 p., Bhubaneswar 2006.(www.Adivasi-Koordination.de/adivasi_english)

Rourkela and after - 50 years of industrialdevelopment and social responsibility in Indo-German CooperationPapers presented in a conference at Königswinter(near Bonn), Germany, 22-24 September, 2006(sarini Occasional Papers, No. 5)44 p., Bhubaneswar 2007.(www.Adivasi-Koordination.de/adivasi_english)

Treasure in the hills - Episodes of tribal life &tribal ethos in Orissa. By Nabor Soreng.(sarini Occasional Papers, No. 6)80 p., Bhubaneswar 2008.


- 3 -

Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), the hold-ing company for Rourkela Steel Plant, is termedas one of the four Maharatnas or “big juwels” ofIndia. The other three are National ThermalPower Corporation (NTPC), Indian Oil Corpora-tion (IOC) and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation(ONGC). Under Hindustan Steel Limited, laterrenamed SAIL, Rourkela Steel Plant was set upwith German collaboration in the District ofSundargarh, and Rourkela Steel Plant is the pro-minent public sector unit that - with its steadilyincreasing annual turnover - has significantlycontributed to SAIL becoming a Maharatna (theother SAIL units being Bhilai Steel Plant, BokaroSteel Plant and Durgapur Steel Plant).

Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) has progressivelyentered into the competitive market with itsproducts and gained heights of turnover. Pro-ducing 1.5 million tons of steel, it is breaking itsprevious records of production. No doubt, forOrissa RSP is a major economic engine that hasemployed thousands, given rise to sprawlingurban centers and attracted all major bodies inthe field of education, banking, insurance, tradeand commerce etc. to establish their businesscentres in and around Rourkela. The transforma-tion that has taken place in terms of the standardsof life and the availability of the modern facilitiesis astounding. However in the bottom line, the million dollarquestion is “Whose development is it?”And: “Doesthis development include all members of society? Arethe basic rights of the people guaranteed, who sacrificedtheir land for RSP and other development projects, anddo these people participate in the economic growth anddevelopment?” The answers to these questions canbe found in the policies that government adopts,and in the attitudes of administration and the RSPofficials.

The real fact is that the displaced tribals continue

to be suppressed and denied their rights - sys-tematically - so that their destruction is real andcomplete. This is nothing but a state conspiracyagainst the tribals: to alienate them from theirlands and make them poor. Orissa has rich mine-ral resources. In the current scenario, the govern-ment is on a marathon race in signing Memoran-dums of Understanding (MoUs) with the com-panies for mining and industries. There areinstances galore that only demonstrate how tri-bals become marginalized once they are displacedfrom their original lands and how they aresuffering for generations. Industries are defini-tely a great vehicle for growth and development,but only when there is no greed. The companiescompete with each other over the resources andthey go to any extent to make their dreams ofenormous profits come true. However, the localAdivasis are the ones who suffer. They areilliterate, they are not well organized politically,and no one is there to support them.

The Kalunga Conference, organized on 6-7 March2010, recalled the 50 years of struggle of the dis-placed Adivasis. In this Conference, there werepresent: organisations working for the displacedpeople, victims themselves, and also some digni-taries. However, the conspicuous absence of boththe district officials and the RSP officials onlyindicates the kind of attitude that these officialshave towards the Adivasis. The naked truth is thatso many families are yet to receive land for land,job placement and compensation. In fact, thisshows RSP’s large scale failure in the field ofCorporate Responsibility.

The testimonies given by the victims clearly ex-pose the cruelties of the RSP and the adminis-tration who were expected to fulfil all the sweetpromises made to the people at the time of landacquisition. There is a growing discontent amongthe displaced people. They have not received thefacilities even for safe drinking water or connect-

Editorial

Development vs. Displacement & Destruction:The Forgotten Tribals of Rourkela

Sunil Kumar JojoInternational Development Consultant, Bhalubud, District Sundargarh

- 4 -


ing roads or schools and health clinics. They wereforcefully taken away and dumped in the newlocations in the jungle where there was nothing.They were not even able to take their domesticanimals which are part of their living. Some ofthe participants mentioned that they had to con-struct a village school with their own contri-butions, even as they struggled to make both endsmeet. “We want to educate our children,” suchwas their determination.

All the displaced persons present in the Con-ference and the organisations working for themhad been univocal in their demands that includedthe following:- 1. Land for land (both in terms of quantity and

quality)2. Proper compensation for the land loss3. Job for every family (now three generations

have passed, yet jobs not received.)4. Immediate provision of basic amenities at the

rehabilitation centres (even today they have noaccess to the safe drinking water, better school-ing and health facilities)

5. Education and skill development for the tribalstudents must be given emphasis

6. Skill development trainings and counselling.7. Special incentives to promote sports among

tribals8. Protection and promotion of local cultures

Under its so-called “Periphery Development Pro-gramme”, RSP has tried to implement some deve-lopmental work. But the nature of the work andthe process applied seem to be nothing but aneyewash. How much of these works really benefitthe supposed beneficiaries is to be assessed onthe ground.

People should be allowed to grow and developin their own culture. For the Adivasis, land, waterand forest are integral to their concept of self, indi-vidually and as a community. When these natural,life giving resources are alienated from them, theybegin to lose their identity and distinctive charac-teristics. And they may be drowned in the processof modernisation that comes to them mainly as adestructive and forceful change.

In this context the Kalunga Conference also aimedto give new orientation and energy to the scatter-ed initiatives and organisations towards a unitedand focused approach in their ongoing struggle.The organisations working for the people dis-placed by RSP, Mandira Dam and BondamundaRailway Marshalling Yard agreed to come to-gether on a joint platform and form a federation.They will jointly raise the demands of the peopleto the higher authorities at the policy level, whileon the ground the organisations will continuetheir support and struggle in the respective areas.

Even decades after the establishment of RSP, thatis so gloriously being made a subject of classroomteaching in Germany, Adivasi Koordination inGermany - in collaboration with ASHRA, a localNGO in Sundargarh - is making sincere efforts tofollow the trails of the displaced people. And theyare trying to find out the impact of RSP, MandiraDam, Bondamunda Marshalling Yard, KansbahalL&T and other such “milestones of modernity”on the Adivasis. This will - in turn - surely streng-then the struggle of the Adivasis to achieve thefulfilment of their rightful demands. So – hope-fully - in the near future they will be able to parti-cipate adequately in every sphere of development- in its true sense.


- 5 -

Editorial Development vs. Displacement & Destruction - 3The Forgotten Tribals of Rourkela By Sunil Kumar Jojo

List of abbreviations or local names 6Preface 7Group Photo of Participants 9Programme of the Conference6th March 2010Ist Session Chairperson: Mr. Bijay Kumar Soreng

Language Translator: Mr. Sunil Jojo09:30 A.M. Inauguration of Seminar (Lighting of Candles…)09:45 A.M. Welcome Address by Rt. Rev. Bishop John Barwa, SVD10:00 A.M. Keynote Address 10

By Fr. Stan Swamy, Ranchi10:30 A.M. Development-induced Displacements in Sundargarh District 12

By Dr. Golak B. Nath, Rourkela11:30 A.M. Empirical study of the displacement by Rourkela Steel Plant 16

and Mandira DamBy Martina Claus and Sebastian Hartig, Kassel, Germany

IInd Session Chairperson : Mr. Sunil Jojo, Language Translator: Mr. Louis Toppo02:00 P.M Reading out of solidarity messages from Germany

Project Rourkela and Adivasi Solidarity in Germany 20By Adivasi-Koordination in GermanyRourkela - My thoughts and my feelings travel back 21over a distance of 50 yearsBy Dr. J. Bodo Sperling, Schleching, GermanyA German Workman in Rourkela 22By Manfred Tiefensee, Wilhelmshaven, Germany

02:30 P.M. Testimonies and Statements of Displaced Persons 2304:15 P.M. Group Discussion.7th MarchIst Session Chairperson: Mr. Pradeep Samad

Language Translator: Mr. Sunil Jojo09:45 A.M. Land Acquisition of RSP & Mandira Dam in the Scheduled District 34

of SundargarhBy Celestine Xaxa, Rourkela

10:45 A.M. The Proposed Mittal Steel Plant in Jharkhand 39By Dayamani Barla, Ranchi

12:15 P.M. Press ConferenceIInd Session Chairperson: Mr. Louise Toppo, Language Translator: Mr. Bijay Kumar Soreng02:00 P.M. The Rengali Dam Project in Deogarh District, Orissa 42

By Ajay Kumar Mahanta, Rourkela02:30 P.M. Discussion in groups03:15 P.M. Presentation of results of group discussion03:30 P.M. Action Plan04:30 P.M. Final Session05:00 P.M. Closing of the Conference and Vote of Thanks

By Mr. Pradeep SamadSelected Press Reports on the Conference 44Epilogue The Struggle Continues 48

Annexure Text of the Judgment of the High Court of Orissa, Cuttack,dated 9 July 2010 on a Writ Petition by ASHRA, Rourkela A 1-9

Table of Contents / Programme of the Conference

- 6 -


List of Abbreviations or Local Names

Ac./ac./acr. acre(s) (1 ac. = 0.4071 hectares/1 hectare = 2.471 acres)ADM Additional District MagistrateASHRA Adivasis for Social and Human Rights ActionBAIF Bharatiya Agro Industries FoundationBALCO Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd., part of Vedanta Resources Private Ltd. Corp.CNT Chotanagpur Tenancy ActCSR Corporate Social Responsibilitycrore 10 million (= 100 lakhs)dalal “middleman”DGM Deputy General ManagerDIG Deputy Inspector General (of Police)diku “alien”, “stranger” (“exploiter”)HSL Hindustan Steel LimitedIAS Indian Administrative ServiceITI Industrial Training InstituteJ.M.A.C.C. Jharkhand Mines Areas Coordination Committee, Ranchikhatiyan “register, record”KfW Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (German Development Bank)L & T Larsen Toubro Ltd.lakh 100,000lathi baton, long stick used by policeLDA Local Displaced Association, a self-organisation of Displaced PersonsLDP Local Displaced Person(s)MLA Member of Legislative AssemblyMP Member of ParliamentMTA million tons per annumN.G.O. Non-governmental organisationNALCO National Aluminium Company Ltd.NHRC National Human Rights CommissionOAS Orissa Administrative Servicepatta land record papersPDP Peripheral Development ProgrammePESA Provisions of Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996PIL Public Interest LitigationP.O. Post OfficeP.S. Police StationR & R Rehabilitation and Resettlementrayati revenue land, settled landRDA Rourkela Development AuthorityRDC Revenue Divisional CommissionerRKL RourkelaRS Resettlement ColonyRSP Rourkela Steel PlantRRIT Rourkela Rural Improvement TrustSAIL Steel Authority of India LimitedSDO Sub-Divisional OfficerSNG Sundargarh (District)SP Superintendent of PoliceSC, ST Scheduled Caste(s), Scheduled Tribe(s)SZVVP Sundargarh Zilla Visthapit Vikas Parishad (“Sundargarh District Displaced Persons’

Development Platform”), a newly formed self-organisation of Displaced PersonsU.N. United Nations


- 7 -

Preface

Based on German planning, one of the mostadvanced steel plants of the world at that timewas constructed at Rourkela, Orissa, during the1950s and 1960s. The construction itself and againseveral phases of modernization of the plant atlater times were done mainly with Germantechnical know how and also with financialassistance from Germany.

In the official perception in India, Rourkela is asuccess story, and the city is considered one ofthe growth centres of India. In the officialperception in Germany, ‘Project Rourkela’ is asuccess story as well. It is still the biggest projectever in German development assistance. Rourkelain Germany is textbook knowledge.

But the general public in India and in Germanyis largely not aware of the impact of ‘ProjectRourkela’ on the Adivasi people living in theRourkela region. This impact was never dulyconsidered by the technical planners and by thefinancing institutions in Germany. And by theIndian bureaucracy and by the steel plantmanagement it was apparently neglected as well.

Some basic facts concerning the displacedAdivasis of Rourkela and Mandira DamThe following facts stand in contrast to publicannouncements made by the government at thetime of land acquisition:- Land was acquired much in excess of what

was really needed for the steel plant and thenew town; this surplus land (amounting toalmost 14,000 acres) is still to be returned tothe original owners;

- Displaced families were brought to farawayresettlement colonies without even basicamenities in place, and this condition largelycontinues till date;

- Land for land compensation was not madein proper relation to quality and quantity ofthe land acquired;

- Most of the displaced families also did notget employment in the steel plant (contrarily,Non-Adivasis and other non-affected peoplegot employment on the basis of fakedisplacement certificates).

It is an established fact that the majority of theAdivasi population had no share in the economicdevelopment of this region: They had been forcedto give up their ancestral lands. Many of themare till date struggling for their rightful claims onassets and livelihoods lost through the eviction.

Whatever was done for the displaced in the nameof resettlement, compensation and rehabilitationhas been mostly insufficient, ineffective andintransparent. The same is true for the so-called“Periphery Development Programme (PDP)”initiated by RSP with conceptual and financialsupport from the German Development BankKfW in the 1990s.

These issues had already been discussed in twoconferences on Rourkela held in Germany in 2006and 2009. And demands have been put forwardto the KfW, to the German Ministry for Deve-lopment and to the RSP to share the details onthe PDP agreement, the amount of funds allo-cated, and the implementation. So far, however,they had not responded or only given withevading statements.

The Conference at Kalunga, 6th & 7th March 2010The “Displaced Persons’ Conference” at Kalungaas such is a historic event, bringing together thedifferent communities of displacement-affectedpeople from the Rourkela, Mandira Dam andBondamunda areas.

From the German side, the German Embassy,Delhi, and the German Development Bank KfW,Delhi, had been invited. But they declined tofollow the invitation to Rourkela. From the Indianside, the District Collector, the ADM and theManaging Director of RSP had been invited, butthey did not participate in the conference.However, a few members of Adivasi-Koordi-nation in Germany, a civil society organisation insupport and solidarity with the Adivasi peopleof India who had been instrumental in the earlierRourkela conferences held in Germany, werepresent.

- 8 -


The first dayThe Conference was inaugurated by Rt. Rev.Bishop John Barwa, SVD, Rourkela Diocese, whoalso gave a very warm welcome address to anaudience of about 70 participants.

Fr. Stan Swamy of Ranchi, Jharkhand, gave theKeynote Address focussing on the legal andpolitical perspectives of the struggle of Adivasisfor control of their resources.

Dr. G.B. Nath of Mahatma Gandhi College, Jalda,emphasized on the issues of development-induced displacement in resource rich regions ofJharkhand, Orissa and Chhattisgarh and arguedstrongly for the rights of the people over their landand for an inclusive development.

Two of the German participants shared theirexperiences and findings of their social scienceresearch which they had done recently in theresettlements sites around Rourkela.

This was followed by reading out of solidaritymessages from Germany, one of them sent by aperson who had been posted in Rourkela as ajunior mechanic in the early years.

In the afternoon session, members of thedisplaced communities gave their personaltestimonies.

This was followed by group discussions in whichthe displaced persons actively participated, andthis continued until evening. At the end of thefirst day, the inputs were shared with each other.

The second dayIn the morning of the second day, Fr. CelestineXaxa, Jalda, provided an expert legal analysis ofthe land acquisition processes for RSP andMandira Dam.

Going beyond the Rourkela and Mandira Damdisplacements that had occurred 50 years ago andthe ongoing plight of the affected communities,Mrs. Dayamani Barla, Ranchi, Jharkhand, gavean outlook on the green field steel plant projectproposed by ArcelorMittal in South Jharkhandand the people’s concerns there.

Next to the Rourkela experience, Rengali DamProject in Deogarh District of Orissa has beenanother so-called development project resultingin large-scale displacement of people, of whichMr. Ajay K. Mahanta, Rourkela, gave somedetails.

Towards the end of the conference, the parti-cipants decided to join in a common platform forbetter coordination with the concerned authoritiesto address the issues of the displacement affectedcommunities.

The above is the text of the “Press Note On DisplacedPersons’ Conference, Rourkela, 6th & 7th March, 2010,at Nava Jagriti, Kalunga”. It was given coverage insome local and national newspapers and in radio andTV channels. The respective contributions - to theextent that they were made available in writing - arepublished or at least summarized in the following.This is being done as a small support to the movementof the displaced people of Rourkela and MandiraDam.

ASHRA is a local human rights organisation based inRourkela.sarini is an informal network of social and humanrights activists in India and Germany.Adivasi-Koordination in Germany is a (registered)civil society organisation and network of NGOs en-gaged in human rights and developmental activities,working with the indigenous or Adivasi communitiesin India.

sarini Occasional Papers, No. 7

50 Years and More Struggle for Justice at Rourkela

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

- 9 -

- 10 -


Keynote Address

Fr. Stan SwamyBagaicha, Ranchi, Jharkhand

Friends,

We are at a moment of history when, on the onehand, a particular understanding of develop-ment or progress is being imposed on us by theruling capitalist class. We are told that ‘deve-lopment’ can take place only through ‘industria-lisation’, and this industrialisation, especially inthe mineral rich tribal area of central and easternIndia, can take place only through ‘mining’. Now,mining means ‘land’, especially of the indigenousAdivasi people. If these people will be forced togive up their land, they are and will become dis-placed in ever increasing numbers.

Displacement means loss of everything that haskept them alive as a people for centuries. It meansa loss of not only their material base but also aculture and spirituality which have given them aunique identity as a distinct people. Qualities suchas equality, cooperation, commonality, consensusdecision making, closeness to nature, have madethem a people who need to be emulated ratherthan destroyed. Instead, we see systematic effortsbeing made by the current capitalist forces toundermine these precious values and impoverisha unique people through brutal industrialisationresulting in massive displacement of these verypeople.

Without going into the details of displacement,let us make a note of the fact that the indigenousAdivasi People of India, who comprise 8 per centof the Indian population, account for as much as40 per cent of all displaced persons in the country.Unfortunately, the Indian government is on theside of this type of industrialisation. On the other hand, here we are as a people. Weare also for development. But for a developmentthat will benefit all sections of society. We,therefore, reject a development of the upper andmiddle classes of society that will lead to the

under-development of the indigenous and otherweaker sections. In fact, we are also for industria-lisation, but an industrialisation that will notdisplace us from our cherished habitat and willalso add to our economic and social well-being.

How can this be done?

- Let it be made very clear that in futurethe indigenous Adivasi people shouldno more be displaced.They have suffered enough.It is time to say “enough is enough”.

- Mining can be done by people’s co-operatives. We have before us the judgmentof the Supreme Court of India, generallyreferred to as ‘Samata Judgment’ (1996),which prescribes the process:

- The government should provide thewherewithal for the setting up andeffective functioning of such co-operatives,such as making available the initial capitalfrom a nationalised bank, providing theneeded technical and managerial expertisefor scientific mining. The co-operative willtake the produce directly to the market andrealise their due profit. As this mining willbe done on a small scale, it will not causeany displacement of any one.

- The principle that underlies is that thepeople are the rightful owners of whateveris in their land.

If, for whatever reasons, people are not ready forthe above mentioned process, then at least thefollowing steps should be taken:

- The consent of the Gram Sabha is anabsolute must for initiating any project.


- 11 -

- Land is to be given to the government orcompany only on lease. Therefore, monthlyrent is to be paid to the land owner.The land should be returned in cultivableform after mining is finished.

- The value of the land is to be assessedaccording to the value of the mineraldeposit lying underneath.

- At least 20 per cent of the annual profit ofthe company should go towards the infra-structural development of the area.

- Employment to every adult member of thefamily or community must be assured.

In situations where the above mentioned possi-bilities are refused by the government or com-pany, the affected people have the right to formPeople’s Resistance Movements through which theywill refuse to give their land for any industrialpurpose. This is part of their human rights. The under lying principle is: People are sovereign.They are the rightful owners- of what is above their land,- of what is on their land, and- of what is beneath their land.Hence they have the right to dispose of them inthe way they think it best in the interest of their

community and family. Let no one deny them thissacred right. A word must be said about the displacementcaused by Rourkela Steel Plant and Mandira Dam.Approximately 33,000 acres of land was acquired,displacing 65 tribal villages. About 19,000 acresof land was utilised for the above mentionedprojects and the balance of 14,000 acres shouldhave been returned to the original land ownersas per law. Instead, it was handed over to theOrissa government which illegally leased out thesurplus land for the construction of variousprivate institutions and housing colonies. Thusthe tribal land acquired for public purpose hasand is being given away for private purpose.

On the other hand, the displaced Adivasis havebeen cheated and suffered irreparable loss. Allthe assurances given by the government in termsof resettlement have been empty promises. Sofinally the deprived people have begun to assertand demand for their rights as citizens andhuman beings.

It is important to note that the above unjust act ofthe government in the 1950s has set a convenientprecedence for private corporate houses in thepresent decade of the 21st century. Hence it mustbe fought with all our strength so that justice andhumanity will be restored.

- 12 -


I. INTRODUCTIONDisplacement has become a sine-qua-non of themodern developmental process worldwide. Dueto the provision for infrastructure, public utilities,hydro-electric complexes, irrigation canals, ex-ploitation of minerals, etc., there is massive dis-placement of people from their habitat. Howevertheir relocation poses a problem. There isimpoverishment due to landlessness, joblessness,homelessness, morbidity, insecurity and loss ofcommon property resources.

In recent years due to the adverse effect of dis-placement and the complex nature of the rehabi-litation procedure, there is a mounting agitationagainst these projects, questioning the presentform of development policies. Participants in themovements outrightly reject the construction ofprojects which displace a large number of peoplefrom their habitat. But surprisingly enough, in alater state, people do not question the projectwhich displaces them. They assume that dis-placement is inevitable. Hence they clamour forbetter rehabilitation programmes and policies,along with higher compensation. The presentpaper reviews certain issues relating to planneddevelopment and displacement in Orissa ingeneral and Sundargarh District in particular.

II. ORISSA -THE RESOURCE RICH STATEWITH THE POOR PEOPLE.

Orissa, on which the present study is based,comprises an area of 1,55,842 sq. kms and hasbeen divided into thirty districts for administra-tive purposes, with 171 Tahsils and 314 Blocks,and 50,854 villages. The total population of thestate is 3,67,07,000 according to the 2001 Census.However the density of population per sq. km. isonly 236 in comparison to the all India density of324 persons per sq. km. As regards the literacy,the level is 63.61 per cent as against 65.38 per centfor all India. The female literacy level is all the

Development, Displacement and People’s Resistance in Orissawith Special Reference to Sundargarh District

(Edited English manuscript)

Dr. Golak B. NathPrincipal, Mahatma Gandhi College, Jalda, Rourkela

more depressing, it is only 50.97 per cent in thestate. Caste composition of the population showsthat Scheduled Tribes (ST) constitute a little morethan one fifth of the total population of the state.They are largely concentrated in the districts ofGajapati, Kalahandi, Nuapara, Keonjhar, Kora-put, Rayagada, Malkangiri, Nabrangpur, Mayur-bhanj, Sambalpur, Jharsuguda, Deogarh andSundargarh. But the Scheduled Castes (SC),whose percentage is 16.20 in the state, are evenlydistributed throughout the state. Taken together,ST and SC form 38.4 per cent of the total popu-lation of the state. Considering the percentage ofurban population in India in aggregative form, itis revealed that more than one fourth (27.78 percent) of the population lives in urban areas. Thecorresponding figure for Orissa is only 14.97 percent. Proverbially it is said that Orissa is a resource richstate with poor people. The state is richly en-dowed with minerals, like coal, iron ore, manga-nese, chromites, limestone, dolomite, bauxite,graphite, lead, etc. Orissa alone possesses 16 percent of the total iron ore deposits and produces40 per cent of the total output of the country. Thestate is the third most important state in manga-nese deposits. The total forest area of the state is67,925 sq. kms. which constitutes about 43 percent of total land of the state. This is nearly doublethe all India average which is 22.7 per cent only.Given their sizes, forests play an important rolein the economic life of the people of the state.

At the time of the transfer of power from theBritish to the natives, Orissa did not have any in-dustry worth the name. Despite its immense natu-ral resources such as minerals, forests, water andmanpower, the state continues to lie behindalmost all the neighbouring states in the field ofeconomic growth. However, in the post-colonialtakeover, a planned process of development withsubstantial capital investment has taken place in


- 13 -

the economy. The mineral, forest and waterresources have been exploited through almost allspheres of the economy which has given rise to achange in the productive force, this has restruc-tured the economy, encouraged more capital pe-netration, the market forces, etc. However, thesechanges have their own contradictions whichhave become manifested in various ways. Parti-cularly the marginalisation of a section of the pea-santry has brought the people’s point of view tothe forefront.

III. VICTIMS OF DEVELOPMENTThe commercial exploitation of minerals datesback to the first part of the 20th century. Mangan-ese ore mining in Sundargarh District, open castcoal mining in Ib Valley, Jharsuguda District andcoal mining at Talcher in Angul District and atGopalpur in Sundargarh District, lime stonequarry at Dungri in Bolangir District are some ofthe mining operations taken up in the state. Oneinteresting factor in all the mining operationslisted above is that they were located in the mostbackward areas of the state, either surroundedby deep forest or plain agricultural lands. Theinhabitants of these localities were primarilyagriculturist, depending on land of their own ortenure land. The Land Acquisition (Mines) Act18 of 1885 and the Land Acquisition Act of 1894,as amended from time to time, provide for thepayment of compensation for the land acquiredfor mining purposes, but only when all theprocedures laid down in these Acts are dulyfollowed. In most of the cases, however, there wasgross violation of these Acts. Moreover, even ifthere is no violation, yet the rayats or recordedfarmers having superior rights over land and thevillage headmen or zamindars would be the topbeneficiaries. But the ST and SC people, those whohave inferior rights or no rights at all over land,would not get any compensation. It is the uppersection of the caste hierarchy who - for their accessto education and authority - are the beneficiariesof employment opportunities provided by thesemining operations.

In order to convert the traditional agriculturaleconomy of the state into an industrial one, theestablishment of the steel plant at Rourkela, ofHindustan Aeronautics Limited at Sunabeda, ofthe Angul and the Damanjodi sectors of NALCO,of Ordinance Factory in the industry-less districtof Bolangir, etc. were considered as milestones inthe Orissa economy. Besides these public sectorinvestments, a number of companies like IndianAluminum Industries Limited at Hirakud (1959),Orient Paper Mill Ltd. at Brajraj Nagar (1939),

Bepahar Refractory Limited, Belpahar (1954), etc.may be listed. These are a few illustrations of howindustries were established in the state byacquiring land for their factories as well as civiltownships under the Land Acquisition Act.

Sundargarh is known for its industries. At Birmit-rapur, lime stone quarrying started already in thepre-Independence era. In fact, lime stone anddolomite mining was started by E.G. Barton in1898. The establishment of the cement factory atRajgangpur in 1955 and the steel plant at Rourkelain 1955 were responsible for the rapid industrialdevelopment of the district. L & T has also estab-lished a machinery factory at Kansbahal. How-ever, the immediate and direct effect of all theseindustrial works was the uprootment of a largesection of the SC and ST population settling inthese localities. After decades of planning and in-dustrialisation in the country, a visit to those areastoday would show how these industries havemaximized their private benefit at a public costin terms of displacing the local people withoutreintegrating them in the developmental process.

As agriculture has been the mainstay of the peopleof Orissa and the major source of income of thestate, attempts have been made to construct majorand medium irrigation projects. Hirakud (1948)Salandi (1960), Balimela (1962), Rengali (1973),Upper Kolab (1976), Upper Indrabati (1978), Su-barnarekha, Samal, Mandira are some of themajor irrigation projects which have been com-missioned. However, even these projects up-rooted a large number of people and created enor-mous difficulties in the matter of rehabilitationand payment of compensation. Admittedly thetenants-at-will and share-croppers, almost allbelonging to the ST and SC social group were theworst sufferers. By utilizing the Land AcquisitionAct 1948 of Orissa, the zamindars and landedproprietors were in a position to get whateverbenefit was accruing to them. Most of them alsocould contest with the state in legal battles andhave won certain concessions. But the loss of theirsource of living and social standing for the tenantsand the agricultural labourers was enormous.Virtually, these people were turned to destitutesin the name of development.

As indicated above, development in Orissa isequated with establishment of multipurpose damprojects, factories, mines, railways and highways.One of the noteworthy features of these projectsis that they are two-dimensional. On the one hand,they have contributed to the economic develop-ment in terms of material gain. On the other hand,

- 14 -


these projects have displaced a large number ofhouseholds from their habitats. Hence there issocio-economic deprivation involving landless-ness, joblessness, loss of common propertyresources (CPR).

Although there are a lot of studies on the subject,yet there is a lack of reliable qualitative data onthe question of development and displacement.Even a conservative estimate shows that the totalnumber of those displaced by all these develop-mental projects between 1950 to 1993 in Orissa is81,176 families from 1,446 villages by acquiring 6,22,463.94 hectors of land. This figure is basedon irrigation projects (major and medium), coalmining, public sector industries and thermal po-wer stations. If we also consider the private indus-trial houses in paper, cement, refractory steel, alu-minum, thermal power stations, mines owned byprivate sector, wild life sanctuaries and parks,railways and highways, and defense industries,then the actual figures of displacement may bemore than one lakh families. Another disquiet-ing factor is that since the resource rich districtslike Sundargarh in Orissa are tribal dominatedand nearly 40 per cent of the displaced personsare tribal people. Whether the projects have physi-cally displaced them or not, they have definitelydisplaced them from their traditional life supportsystem. This is what is called internal colonisationor development racism.

IV. ABSENCE OF A REHABILITATIONPOLICY

A lot of infrastructural projects have come upsince the inception of a planned economic deve-lopment in India which have displaced a greatnumber of people. Yet there is no national dis-placement and rehabilitation policy. Neither at thenational level nor at the state level there existsany legislation for the rehabilitation of the projectoustees. Therefore, it is difficult to claim rehabi-litation as a matter of constitutional right of thecitizens once they are displaced. In the absenceof a unified central or state level rehabilitation po-licy, each project evolved certain rehabilitationnotes, administrative orders or resolutions andpromises. However, it is not binding on the go-vernment to rehabilitate them in all the projects.Despite the World Bank’s repeated insistence,there is no attempt towards a compensatory re-habilitation.

The land acquisition has got the legal standingwhereas there is no constitutional or legal rightfor rehabilitation. The rights of tribals and otherrights enjoyed by the people in their ancestral

lands including the common property resourcesare not recognized by the state to rehabilitate thepeople in order to attain a higher quality of life.

V. PEOPLE‘S RESISTANCE TO DISPLACEMENT

In the history of Orissa, the marginalized sectionsof the people had launched various revolts andagitations against such changes that lead to theirmarginalization. Being the first clearers of theforest land, they hardly recognized the state ow-nership over land. When Orissa came underBritish administration with its active interferenceand total assessment of the land and a very strictmanner of revenue collection, the tribal peoplestrongly resented this. They readily accepted theleadership of Surendra Sai and Birsa Munda whowere fighting bravely against British colonialism.The Khond revolt of 1878 in Kalahandi, the Binjhalrevolt in 1900 in Patna, and the Munda revolt inGangpur State (in the present Sundargarh Dis-trict), are some of the uprisings directed againstBritish imperialism and their trusted allies, thehigh caste and plains people of the state.

In the post-colonial era, there were also a largenumber of agitations against marginalization asresult of the state’s development attempts. Orissahas witnessed agitations against the constructionof Hirakud Dam, Rengali Dam, Rourkela SteelPlant, BALCO, NALCO, Baliapal, Gopalpur, Ka-shipur, Kalinga Nagar, Lanjigarh, Bhusan Steeletc. Certain agitations have taken violent form andled to bloodshed. At times the movements werepowerful enough to stall the projects. The Baliapalmissile project in Baleswar District, the Ikkarpadairrigation project in Angul District, the BALCOaluminum project in Paikmal in Bargarh Districtwere withdrawn due to mounting agitationagainst these projects.

In the 1950s, Hindustan Steel Limited (HSL) ac-quired 19,537.06 acres of land for Rourkela SteelPlant (RSP) displacing mostly Oraon and Mundatribals. They agitated against the land acquisitionsince it destabilized their lifestyles, throwing themto uncertainty. Later the RSP oustees found outthat a large portion of land acquired by the steelproject had not been put to use. Hence peoplehailing from Chhend, Bankia, Pardhan Palli, Bar-kani, Durgapur, Raghunathpali, Tumkela, Tar-kera, Deogaon, Hamirpur, Tangarpali, Bijuban-dha and Jharabahal went back to their villagesfrom which they had been formally evacuated.Though HSL and the state government authoritythink that such occupation of evacuated land isillegal, yet even today some of these people are


- 15 -

in possession of this land and are cultivating it.Till today the RSP has not be able to provide allthe displaced people either with jobs or land.Therefore, agitation is going on and on even morethan half a century after the establishment of RSP.

Like in the case of RSP, so also in almost all casesof land acquisition for the other projects, theauthorities were acquiring land much in excessof their actual needs. Such mindless acquisitionof mostly agricultural tracts has led to a loss ofland for cultivation, thereby making the peasantslandless labourers. Therefore, the Secretary to theGovernment of Orissa, in a letter to all Collectors,dated 5th July 1984, cautioned them not to acquireland in excess of the actual need of a project. Itwas also made compulsory that whenever landwould be acquired by a project, the Collector isto certify that the proposal to acquire land is notin excess of actual requirement for the purposefor which it is acquired.

Often the project authorities are in the habit ofpresenting the project itself as a development andthat displacement is un-avoidable. They do notbother to look at the alternatives provided by thepeoples’ movements. On the contrary, they labelthe participants in the agitations as “anti-project”,“anti-development”, “anti-national”, “anti-so-cial”, etc. That is why the response of the govern-ment to almost all these agitations has been severerepression. The government thinks of it as a lawand order problem. In this way those who controlthe state machinery do enforce their own conceptof the process of development. The appropriate-ness of the project is thus judged in terms of thebenefits to the powerful - and not to the supposedbeneficiaries. The project authorities present theproject as being beneficial to the people at large,and hence the oustees need to sacrifice themselvesfor the cause of development. However it is veryoften seen that the project provides benefits to acertain set of people other than the project oustees.Thus exploitation of natural resources may be

beneficial to the overall economic growth in thecountry, but the oustees are certainly not a partof those beneficiaries. In a sense, the history ofthe development process in India is a history ofthe transfer of economic resources from the have-nots to the haves. VI. CONCLUDING REMARKSIf one looks at development as a social process, ithas two components, i.e. the material componentand the human component. The material com-ponent is necessary but not sufficient, while thehuman component is the sufficient condition forthe development process. It is the primacy of thismaterial component of development which hasdriven out the STs and SCs and other vulnerablesections of the society including women - withoutintegrating them into the production framework.The development policies instead have destabi-lized the material base.

Therefore, despite the modern giant steel plantat Rourkela and the Steel City, Ispat GeneralHospital, Rourkela General Hospital, NationalInstitute of Technology, Ring Road, Indira GandhiPark, Ispat Market, Biju Patnaik University ofTechnology, a number of government and privateschools and colleges, polytechnic for women andmen, Ispat Stadium, Bhanja Mandap, a numberof cinema halls, restaurants with attached bars,clubs and what not:

The Bonai Subdivision and Old Gangpur Stateremained at the same level without much change:as poor as it was, as superstitious as it was, asilliterate as it was, as socially tabooed as it was,as unhygienic as it was and even without medicalfacilities as it was. Hence, I would call upon youand make an earnest appeal to the sensiblepersons to join hands in bringing under one roofthe oppressed sections of the society affected bythe projects for a viable alternative in the develop-mental process.

- 16 -


Empirical Study of the Displacement by Rourkela Steel Plantand Mandira Dam

(Abstract of a longer study to be published later)

Martina Claus and Sebastian HartigUniversity of Kassel, Germany

INTRODUCTIONFor several years now, “Adivasi Koordination inGermany (AKD)” has been investigating theeconomic, social and cultural ramifications of theconstruction of Rourkela Steel Plant, and high-lighting the fate of the displaced Adivasi in theprocess. In order to contribute more data basedon social science research, we conducted a two-month field study from January till March 2009on behalf of AKD. The aim of this investigationwas to elucidate the experiences and opinions ofthe affected people and their offspring in responseto the displacement and analyse their currentliving conditions in the resettlement colonies. Afurther aim was to highlight their expectationsand demands towards the responsible institutions- still remaining unfulfilled more than 50 yearsafter the construction of RSP.

OUR RESEARCH METHODOLOGYDuring the course of our field studies, we visiteda total of 10 resettlement colonies (Lachhada,Kendro, Ulandajharan, Ushra, Bankibahal, Jai-dega A and B, Jhandapahar, Jalda A and B,Jhirpani and Bondamunda) . We conducted inter-views with several inhabitants in each colony andanalysed their current living conditions. The inter-views were conducted according to internationalstandards of qualitative social research and werestructured on the basis of a pre-drafted frame-work. We conducted 20 interviews in total, prima-rily with people directly affected by the forcedresettlement, but also with one person who actedas a leader of resistance activities during the timeof the displacement as well as with social activistswho support the Adivasi in their demands today.While selecting potential interview partners, ourfocus was on the diversity of the informants withregard to location, age and gender.

To complement the findings of the framework-based interviews, further information was gather-ed through observation and informal con-

versations, which we noted down in our fielddiaries. Following research in the field, the inter-views were transcribed and evaluated accordingto standard empirical methods of analysis withthe help of a social science colloquium at theUniversity of Kassel. The results of the analysesare summarized below and illustrated with ex-cerpts from the interviews.

RESULTS OF THE STUDY1. The resettlement process

during the construction phase of RSPOn the basis of the analysed interviews, it initiallybecomes apparent that the resettlement of theaffected inhabitants, conducted in 1958, wasinvoluntary. Some of the respondents refer to theliving conditions on their original land and de-scribe them in a highly positive manner. Accord-ing to the interview partners, their parents wouldonly have agreed to leave their land on the basisof the promise that they would be compensatedfairly for the loss of their houses and property.Similarly, they were promised employment in theplanned steel factory as soon as the new colonieswould be provided with adequate infrastructuralfacilities, such as schools and healthcare centres.

Due to the fact that these assurances were givenby popular politicians such as the then PrimeMinister Jawaharla Nehru and that the projectwas supported by the influential Adivasi leaderand hockey-star Jaipal Singh, many of the inhabi-tants were led to believe that the construction ofRSP would lead to an improvement in theirquality of life. One of our interview partners, Mr.Habil Lomga, ascribes this belief to the pooreducational background of the inhabitants (seebelow, p. 24ff.). Other residents maintained theircritical attitude towards resettlement but couldnot identify any means of resisting successfully.In this context, the government’s informationpolicy can only be evaluated as very inadequate.According to many of the interviewed persons,


- 17 -

there was virtually no explanation or clarificationof the project. So they assumed that this practicewas based on a political decision.

Further statements also say that for many of thepeople concerned eviction from their villagescame very unexpectedly. According to the respon-dents, the process of resettlement itself took placein a very ruthless manner. The inhabitants wereforced (in some cases without any prior notice)to load their foodstuffs and cattle onto trucks andwere subsequently dumped in remote jungleareas without further explanation. In this case -the choice of locations far away from Rourkelaand from each other - a similar conclusion can bedrawn as above: that it was done in this way toprevent collective resistance and a potential up-rising of the people. Other respondents state thatthey did not even have the opportunity to taketheir most essential belongings and supplies withthem; they perceived their arrival situation as verythreatening:

“… on the way we were very hungry becausewe had nothing to eat with us… we were takento Lachhada in a thick forest. The truck left usthere and went back and at night we got terriblyafraid, because wild animals like tigers, wildbears and other wild animals were there in thejungle...”

2. Living conditionsin the resettlement areas

The statements of the respondents reveal that theway the resettlement process was conducted hadextremely negative and sometimes life-threaten-ing consequences on them. In spite of havingmade specific promises and announcements, theresponsible parties apparently failed to take anyprecautionary measures in the new colonies at all,as one interviewee articulates:

“So the government officers asked us to clearthe jungle first and everyday we cut trees andcleared the jungle first. We were taken to theplace as displaced persons but we worked thereas slaves.”

The fatal implications of this procedure particu-larly become apparent upon examination of theinterviewees’ accounts of the provisorial natureof their situation. The affected people state that,due to lack of wells and springs, they didn’t haveaccess to clean drinking water. The administrationtherefore delivered water in drums, which turnedout to be highly contaminated. As a result, themajority of the displaced people suffered fromserious diseases, which often led to death, as oneof the respondents complains:

“We were given so dirty water from the pond ofKondeidiha that we suffered from many diseases.As a result many people died one after the other;it was a very shocking event. So the colour ofthe dirty water was black and we were bound todrink that water and our urine und stools alsobecame black.”

The healthcare situation is described as similarlyprecarious. In spite of the massive outbreak ofinfections, there was no provision of medicaltreatment in the beginning whatsoever – parti-cularly in Lachhada and Kendro. Only after theinhabitants had complained to the official institu-tions some medicines were provided, but due tofear of contagion on the part of the responsiblemedical staff they were handed out to the patientswithout any explanation or instructions on theiruse.

According to the interviewees, the problematicliving conditions have hardly improved sincethen. This is especially reflected in the descrip-tions of the minimal agricultural value of the landand the resulting critical food shortage. Forexample, the land allotted to them is too small inacreage to support even the current population,and it is also largely unfertile. This becameevident even to a lay person in agriculture on in-spection of the areas concerned. Mr. Ram ChandraSahoo, president of the Local Displaced Associa-tion, Rourkela, comments on the attempts to culti-vate the dry and stony soils :

“And even the land, which was given to theoustees - the displaced persons - is not agri-cultural, it is a totally stony area. Still thenthey are trying to go for agriculture, but theyielding is very poor. The yielding capacity ofthe land is very poor. So naturally for theirbreath and bread they are leaving their placesand going to some other places to earn theirlivelihood”

Other problem areas are infrastructure and thedomestic situation of the Adivasis. This includes,for example, still insufficient water supply, poorlyequipped or nonexistent educational institutions,lack of medical care, lack of electricity, and in-sufficient transport facilities.

The respondents also mention the strong socio-cultural impact of the displacement forced on tothem. This is most apparent in the destruction oftraditional collectivity (caused by the physicalseparation of existent communities during theresettlement process) and the loss of their reli-gious fundaments (dispossession from ancestral

- 18 -


land) in the case of Sarna Adivasis who worshipnature and their ancestors.

3. Promises of compensationand their implementation

The promises given during the period of con-struction can be classified into the following fourcategories, namely- ‘land for land’,- ‘house for house’,- ‘employment in the steel plant’ and- ‘sufficient provision of infrastructure in the

resettlement colonies’.All interviewees state that none of the promisesin these categories has so far been fulfilled. Withregard to the allocation of land, for example, theywere compensated only with a fraction of theiroriginal acreage, and that also in terms of itsagricultural quality was in no way comparableto their previous property. One person illustratesthis experience:

“We had forty to fifty acres of land in our origi-nal land, but we have got here hardly two acresof uncultivable land.”

The guaranteed construction of housing was inpractice limited to the provision of rows of leaf-huts, too flimsy to withstand the weather con-ditions during the monsoon.

With regard to the promised job opportunities,only a few displaced people were actually givenemployment. This turned out to be restricted topoorly-paid menial jobs during the constructionof the steel plant. Job opportunities for the Adi-vasis in the steel plant itself were very limited.Their restriction to unskilled labour with very lowpromotional perspectives was justified by the au-thorities as due to their lack of specialist quali-fications. Instead, workers from other parts ofIndia were employed inside the plant. One of therespondents comments on this:

“The saddest part of all this is that the outsidersare working in the steel plant and not our localpeople. Our children are not being given job.This is the situation of our Adivasi people.”

According to the informants, no steps were takenby the government to improve the public supplyof main amenities in the resettlement colonies. Thefew provisions now in place, such as the construc-tion of schools, can all be traced back to the inha-bitants’ own initiative. It was only after someGerman human rights activists had visited thevillages during the last couple of years and hadpressed for desperately needed improvements,that a number of development projects were

initiated under the „Peripheral DevelopmentProgramme (PDP)“. However, even these activi-ties are considered as completely inadequate andto some extent merely a token gesture by the in-habitants of the resettlement colonies.

4. Demands of the displaced peopleThe expectations and demands expressed in theinterviews are most notably directed at theresponsible Indian institutions and concern thefulfillment of the promises made during theconstruction phase of the steel plant. Theseinclude:- the provision of a job in the factory for at least

one member of each displaced family;- receipt of compensation still outstanding for

the loss of their land (adequately regardingsize and quality), as well as

- the urgent demarcation of the alreadyallocated land.

It is worth noting that these aspects are mentionedin nearly all interviews but that they are em-phasized in different ways. The statements fromresettlement colonies adjacent to Rourkela (whichmeans that they are provided with a compara-tively good infrastructure) address the employ-ment issue in the RSP, whereas in more remoteareas the question of land is at the forefront.

The issue of land that has been expropriated inthe 1950s - but has remained undeveloped to thisday - also plays a decisive role regarding thematter of land compensation. The displaced Adi-vasis consider it a great injustice that RSP iscurrently selling these plots to outsiders at hor-rendous prices instead of giving them back totheir original owners:

“The surplus land is our land and what rightdoes the government have to sell it to theoutsiders, who are not displaced persons?”

Furthermore, the interviewees demand an infra-structural upgrade in facilities, such as watersupply, education, medical facilities, electricityand transportation. Only a few of the interviewees– primarily the social activists - were aware ofthe existence of the PDP. They state that pro-gramme initiatives have so far been very limitedand that they partly fail to meet the requirementsof the displaced people themselves. Theycomplained in informal conversations that thefunds had been used for unintended purposesand that only a fraction of the money had actuallygone into the designated projects.

On the basis of the interviews, it became obviousthat the displaced people also had expectations


- 19 -

towards the German side. The technical andfinancial support of the Rourkela project mostcertainly was done with the best intentions.Nevertheless, due to the fact that an analysis ofthe social consequences for the former residentshad not taken place prior to or even during theventure, the respondents consider the Germangovernment and the institutions and companiesinvolved to also have a moral obligation towardsthe displaced people. So, on the one hand, thethey are appealing to the German side to supportthem in their demands on the Indian adminis-tration for compensation and thus to increasepressure on the responsible institutions. On theother hand, they would welcome support fromthe German government with developmentpolicies regarding their resettlement colonies.

In summary, the Adivasis of Rourkela weresubject to immense individual and collectivesuffering during and after the process of theirdisplacement. In this way, it is understandablethat even now – more than 50 years after theireviction – they refer to the former promises and

that they are still calling for their implementation.With this in mind, it is important not to dismissthese people as solicitants, but to support themin their legitimate demands based on promisesonce made to them, and also support themtowards the enforcement of their legal rights. Withregard to the payment of compensation claimedby them, it is important to respect the Adivasis’right to self-determination.

Because of the German involvement in the projectof Rourkela Steel Plant, the expectations towardsthem are also understandable. This is not ne-cessarily calling for further financial investmentfrom Germany, but rather the functioning ofinstitutions, which are to handle the existingfunds for their intended purpose, in a transparentmanner.

In conclusion, it can be seen that the impact ofthe construction of RSP is tremendous. This caseillustrates the wider the social, economic andcultural implications of such large-scale industrialschemes in an exemplary manner.

- 20 -


‘Project Rourkela’ and Adivasi Solidarity in Germany

Adivasi-Koordination in Germany (reg. soc.)Kassel, Germany

(Some paragraphs of this message had been included in the Press Note printed at the beginning of this publication.)

Based on German planning, one of the mostadvanced steel plants of the world at that timewas constructed at Rourkela, Orissa, during the1950s and 1960s. The construction itself and againseveral phases of modernization of the plant atlater times were done mainly with Germantechnical know how and also with financialassistance from Germany.

In the official perception in India, Rourkela is asuccess story, and the city is considered one ofthe growth centres of India. In the official per-ception in Germany, ‘Project Rourkela’ is a successstory as well. It is still the biggest project ever inGerman development assistance. Rourkela inGermany is textbook knowledge.

But the general public in India and in Germanyis largely not aware of the impact of ‘ProjectRourkela’ on the Adivasi people living in theRourkela region. This impact was never dulyconsidered by the technical planners and by thefinancing institutions in Germany. And by theIndian bureaucracy and by the steel plant ma-nagement it was apparently neglected as well.

It is an established fact that the majority of theAdivasi population had no share in the economicdevelopment of this region: They had been forcedto give up their ancestral lands, and many of themare till date struggling to have their eviction andtheir loss of assets and livelihoods recognized.

Whatever was done for the displaced in the nameof resettlement, compensation and rehabilitationhas been mostly insufficient, ineffective andintransparent. Already during the constructionphase, a German social scientist posted at Rour-kela gave a serious warning as to the dire con-dition of the displaced communities. But the Ger-man authorities chose to remain inactive. Indiansocial scientists have identified Rourkela SteelPlant and the connected Mandira Dam as “Twin

Destroyers” of Adivasi culture in the region.

We, as German citizens, assembled together as asmall group today in Rourkela, stand in solidaritywith the people of India and especially with themost disprivileged communities, i.e. the Adivasisand Dalits, and – for the above part of Indo-Ger-man collaboration – with the people of Rourkela.

We consider this our responsibility – quite incontrast to the official German position. In ourview, the wealth of the Indian nation – past andpresent – has been reaped on the blood and sweatand on the ancestral lands of the Adivasi people.And we hope that this will no more continue inthe future.

As a civil society organisation, Adivasi-Koordi-nation in Germany has started digging into theRourkela matter, in order to better understandwhat really happened in the last 50 years. Andalso to help improve the economic, social, politicaland cultural conditions of the people displacedat that time. Towards this, already two conferen-ces on Rourkela have been held by us in Germany,in 2006 at Königswinter, and in 2009 at Berlin.

For us, ‘Project Rourkela’ is not yet over, the pro-mises are not yet fulfilled. It will be over onlywhen the displaced people of Rourkela willthemselves say that:- their rights have been acknowledged, andtheir demands and claims have been duly

listened and attended to.

Towards such fulfilment of ‘Project Rourkela’, wewill:- continue to be in touch with the displaced

communities and their organisations;- give publicity to the issue,- try to mobilise political support, and- lobby with the responsible bodies in Germany

and India.


- 21 -

Being a trained sociologist I noticed that theactivities of the Hindustan Steel Limited (HSL)clashed with the environment and its people.Especially at the beginning I observed that everyday thousands of men, women and children triedto walk through the plant site, following theirtraditional trails and paths - and were refused.Their paths were blocked by HSL guards. Theywere sent back - and I could see that they didn’tunderstand what was going on. Seeing this trage-dy repeating itself day after day I asked myself,what was happening to these poor people.

I began to ask around. I asked Indian friends inHSL. I talked to some of the fathers in themissionary stations near Rourkela. I found somehelpful local people who were willing to serve asinterpreters and with those I began to travel. Byand by I went to many Adivasi villages in thesurroundings: Hamirpur, Tumkela, Purunapani,Raghunathpali, Mahulpali, Loekera, Bankia andmany others. I talked to numerous men andwomen, to many families, to people who had beendisrupted, who had been driven away from theirland.

From the information I thus picked up, I gatheredthat all this had happened to them without suf-ficient explanation, without proper compensa-tion, with only superficial promises as to futureemployment in the steel factory.

From HSL sources I was informed that all thesecomplaints were not justified. I was told that twolarge replacement colonies in Jalda and in Jhirpanihad been established to give shelter and newexistence to hundreds of displaced persons.

Rourkela - My Thoughts and My Feelings Travel BackOver a Distance of 50 Years

Dr. J. Bodo SperlingSchleching, Germany

(Dr. J. Bodo Sperling lived in Rourkela some fifty years ago (1958-1962). He was responsible for the social wellbeing of theGermans who helped to build Rourkela steel plant. During these years it was his job to construct the German Hospital , theGerman Club and a German school for German children. It was his job to see that the German fitters and their familiesstayed healthy and well.)

So I went and looked at these resettlements …

Resettling had obviously been done in a hap-hazard way: families and traditional villagegroups had been split up. Tribal cohesion - inAdivasi life a vital basis for livelihood - had notbeen taken into consideration. The whole indus-trial planning had obviously not paid muchattention to the local traditional Adivasi popu-lation of the Rourkela area.

All my observations were, of course, private andinofficial. It was just my very personal interest asa sociologist which made me see these Adivasiproblems in a very special light.

I had seen similar difficulties in other countrieswhere highly modern industrial developmenttended to remove traditional population withoutthe necessary preparation. It is well knownaround the globe that engineers and technicalplanners in general do not have much expertisein people management. They do not think interms of psychological preparation for change, ofeducation and training for new jobs, of long rangeattention to human problems.

When I returned to Germany, I wrote a smallbook on the Adivasi problems in the area ofRourkela. It became a source of information forthose who are psychologically, sociologically andabove all politically interested in solving some ofthe Adivasi problems which still exist today.

Let me close with my sincerest greetings and goodwishes for your conference. In my thoughts I shallbe with you. God bless you all!

- 22 -


My personal affiliation with India and theAdivasis started in the year 1959. In January 1959,I was sent to Rourkela as one of the youngest staffto work there during the construction phase asfitter and technical assistant of the companyKrupp-Ardelt which supplied the big cranes toRSP. … My work place used to be at 20 metersabove ground on the crane bars across the cokeovens and converters. … I lived in “HostelOrissa”, room no. 11, and that used to be mypostal address for the months to come. …

It was not easy to get in touch with the Indianworkers as they came from different regions,speaking different languages and having differentcultural and religious backgrounds…Also not allGermans were behaving properly to get alongwith their Indian colleagues. The Germans, ingeneral, had a lot of money at hand. They couldbuy anything they wanted, but this led to anincrease of market prices, and the local populationhad to suffer and became further impoverished.… Another problem was with the Ayas, mainlyAdivasi girls and other women employed inGerman households. Quite a number of them gotsexually harrassed by German men. Ultimately,a communist MP asked publicly in Parliament,whether the Germans were producing moreillegitimate children that steel.

On the whole, the Germans were not sufficientlyprepared to work abroad, this is with regardmainly to language and culture. This situationbecame a little more relaxed with the arrival ofJan Bodo Sperling, who was named the “peacekeeper” or “sheriff” of Rourkela. He also con-structed the German Social Centre….

There was a hospital only for the Germans, aschool, and the German Social Centre, however,with a sign board “No Indians permitted”. This,in fact, was not helpful for a more friendly rela-tionship. …

A German Workman in Rourkela

Manfred TiefenseeWilhelmshaven, Germany

(Abstract of his speech given at the Rourkela Conference in Berlin on 31 October 2009. He would have liked to attend thismeeting in Rourkela, too, but due to his age and ill health he had to cancel his journey to India.)

But there are also positive things to remember.Once we went with a big crane to fit a water tankin a particluar village. One group built a villagechurch which, however, was not so much likedby the Hindu population.

The hot climate, tropical diseases and the separa-tion from their families created a lot of problemsfor many of the German staff. … They drank alot and frequently went out of control. Once therewas a clash between Indian and German staffwhich even required the intervention of a batal-lion of police to be sent from Jamshedpur.

On the whole, however, we have to acknowledgethat the Adivasi population had to pay the pricefor this industrial project. Their land was grabbed,and they hardly received any compensation. Theywere displaced and some of them resettled aboutone hundred kilometres away in a place withoutwater or any other infrastructural facilities. Thisdestroyed their tribal traditions and religiousculture, and it ruined entire families. …

In 2007, I visited Rourkela again and was shockedto see so much land taken away from the Adivasis,but ultimately not used and now being auctionedat horrendous prices. And so much land de-stroyed by dumping ashes and other remainsfrom the coke ovens. I took home from this visitone piece of such dumped material. It is now onmy desk and every day it reminds me of the fateof the Adivasis.

I understand that especially women have sufferedfrom the loss of their land and house and evenfrom harrassment. But this is hardly acknow-ledged as an entitlement for compensation tothem. I fully agree to the demands to compensateland for land, house for house, etc. and I pay allmy respect to the individuals who stand in thefore front of this struggle.


- 23 -

Testimonies and Statements of Displaced Persons

(In the following section we present a few orginal statements made by speakers of the Displaced Persons at the timeof the Conference. These were all made in local languages (Hindi, Sadri, Oriya), and only a very brief summary wasgiven in English. The statements of the first two persons, who spoke in the Conference, had been recorded earlierduring the empirical study mentioned above and translated into English subsequently. So that interview version isprinted here in a slightly edited version. Two more statements were accompanied by typed manuscripts in Englishlanguage, which are printed here in a slightly edited version. The remaining statements can only be highlighted byvery brief summaries in English and may be published later in case a longer version becomes available.)

My name is Lucia Tirkey. My native place is ‘Bar-kuchlu’, which now remains submerged underthe Mandira Dam. When we were displaced, I wasin Class III. I had gone to Rajgangpur to appearin a scholarship examination. When I returned tomy village after five days, I could not believe myeyes and I was shocked to see that our house andentire property was submerged under water. Iwas informed that my parents were taken toLachhada. I was very small then and I startedweeping.

Even now the government has not done any wel-fare work for us. We are two sisters. Our brothersare not alive. Our life is full of sufferings andhardships. I was a brilliant student in my child-hood. I secured the 1st place in every class. Hence,I had gone to Rajgangpur to write a scholarshipexamination and during those five days thistragedy occurred. Our entire village was washedaway.

We were resettled in Lachhada. There was no-thing to eat or drink initially. We cried for waterand we were given dirty and impure water todrink, which killed my grandparents. That is whymy parents left that place and started dwelling inthe forest of Sarjuga village.

We do not have any documents of our land. Weare homeless and landless. Three years back, I hadapplied before the ADM for a job and also forland. But they rejected my application for land.They replied rudely, ‘What land do you want?’ Ireplied, ‘You have taken away my father’s landof ten acres that included our house, well, fieldsetc. I do not have any other land. I want myfather’s land. I also do not want your job’...

Now, due to physical weaknesses I can’t work inthe fields, neither can I do any physical work. Idon’t know how I will survive. I am childless andthere’s no one who can support me. I also have tolook after my mother. My husband is unem-ployed.

We feel the pain of displacement still today.Suffering has become our fate. When I think aboutall this I cannot stop tears rolling down my eyes.Why is the government being so indifferent withus? I feel so helpless in such a situation.

I have some demands before the government. Iwant a good piece of land in Rourkela, where mysister’s children could be properly educated, sothat their future would be secured. I don’t wantthat they suffer as we suffered. We want properdwelling as others have. We want proper educa-tion facilities for our children as others have. Wewant that our children get employment. Ourchildren are our only hope and support. Wedemand proper conveyance facilities. The govern-ment has made us suffer a lot by displacing us.

I am still homeless. I want a home in Rourkelaalong with water facility. Education facilities formy sister’s children, job and transport facilitiesas well. My mother is very old. I need somemoney to avail her proper care and treatment. Iwant our land document. We also need tractorfor ploughing our fields, a wheel mill.

In our locality there is no school or electricityfacility. The condition of our children is pathetic.If the German Government supports mefinancially, I want to open an orphanage for thechildren.

Testimony by Mrs. Lucia Tirkey(Edited from the interview during the empirical study)

- 24 -


My name is Habil Lomga. When there was theplan to build the Rourkela Steel Plant, water wasneeded to run the Plant. So the Mandira Dam wasconstructed for this purpose.

At that time, the people at the bank of the riverwere illiterate and uneducated. They obeyedwhatever government officers were telling them.Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Jaipal Singh, theMember of Parliament, came to the spot to explainand to persuade them. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehrustayed back at Rourkela and Jaipal Singh came toLaikera village and conducted a meeting. Heexplained in the meeting that for the developmentof the country as well as for the development ofthis area Rourkela Steel Plant is going to be con-structed for which water from this Mandira Damis needed. So you should not oppose this project.Of course, your land and houses will be sub-merged, but you have nothing to worry about.You will be given land for land and provided withhouses.

People were illiterate and could not foresee theirlives and believed everything what they weretold. They, our forefathers, did not understandwhat would happen in their future, and theconstruction work began immediately. In themonth of February 1958, without giving anynotice to the people, the villagers of KantaberaMauza were forcibly evicted. Only after theireviction, the government distributed them thenotice and they had no time to make any protestor any resistance.

On 8th of February 1958, the people of Kantaberavillage and their belongings were loaded ontrucks and they were sent to Lachhada forest inBonai Subdivision. Lachhada jungle was a reserveforest where already some huts had been madefor them. There was no drinking water in thatarea, so first of all they were kept in a village calledKondeidiha because there was one pond in thatvillage.

When more and more people gathered togetherin that village some of them were taken toLachhada, where two wells were being done. Andthey started settling there. There were about threehundred families resettled in Lachhada and theyfaced acute scarcity of water. So the people didnot get any facility of their livelihood. So thegovernment officers asked us to clear the jungle

first and everyday we cut trees and cleared thejungle first.

We were taken to the place as displaced personsbut we worked there as slaves. So in the monthof March the well completely dried, and we hadno water to drink. So we complained to the specialofficer in charge about this scarcity of water. As aresult, he provided water in big drums from thedirty pond from Kondeidiha by trucks anddistributed to each family. Everyday in the samemanner water was provided in the evening fromthis dirty pond. So when the people drank thisdirty water they suffered from various diseaseslike cholera, diarrhoea, chickenpox, etc. As aconsequence, many people died one after theother.

The resettled people were so much afraid thatmany ran away and could not stay there and cameback to their relative’s houses. Those who couldnot come back settled there in spite of all thedifficulties. It was a great betrayal on the part ofthe government side. Some government officerswere bound to stay to supervise them but therewas no use of their staying there.

Again I want to tell you, that we had to suffer alot in that place, particularly due to lack of drink-ing water, no market facility, lack of education,no proper communication, etc. So, first of all, westarted a primary school by ourselves for ourchildren. Then slowly we established a middleschool for the children. The school was run by uson our own efforts. It was recognized by the go-vernment and the people went ahead and starteda private high school by our self-contribution byvoluntary work without any help from the go-vernment. Slowly, the high school was recognizedby the government and was taken over by them.The government had given an assurance to estab-lish a high school for them but since the govern-ment did not fulfill the promise so we had to takethe initiative by our own – the displaced peopleby themselves.

Then I would like to tell you something abouthealth. When our people got sick it was a big prob-lem for us because there was no medicine avail-able. So we informed the government officials atBonai regarding the deplorable situation of thehealth conditions of the displaced people. Theofficers concerned came to visit our sick people

Testimony by Mr. Habil Lomga(Edited from the interview during the empirical study)


- 25 -

but when they saw that so many people weresuffering under various contagious diseases, theywere afraid and not willing to come closer to themand without taking any remedial measure theywent back. And since we were new to them theydid not bother about our requests and ignored totake the responsibility. So they only handed overthe medicines which they brought from Bonai tothe displaced persons without any explanation.So, without knowing, we gave the medicine atrandom to the sick people without any guidanceof a compounder or doctor. So right from thebeginning of our settlement, there were no medi-cal facilities provided to us till today. This area issimply looked after by the ANM (auxiliary nurse-midwife) without any primary health centre.Serious patients are taken for treatment to faraway places like Gurundia, Bonai or Rourkela.And we poor people are facing a lot of problems.

With regard to land I also would like to tell yousomething. The government had promised us togive us land for land. So we hoped to get fertileland in this place, but to our surprise we wereprovided stony, unproductive and sterile land.The whole area is a hilly and stony place and it isnot possible for us to prepare the land for cultiva-tion. When the people have nothing to eat, howis it possible for them to level the land. In thisway, people struggled a lot and it took a long timeto prepare their fields. So, due to lack of cultiva-tion, day by day our people became poorer andpoorer. But no government officers took interestto look after these poor people, and they weretotally neglected and became helpless.

Then further I would like to tell you about jobs.The government had promised to give job faci-lities in the RSP to each recorded tenant but theywere thoroughly cheated and never got any jobin the beginning. Only after our regular com-plaints, in great difficulties some displaced per-sons got a job in the RSP one by one. For thosewho got an employment, their living situation ofand that of their families could somehow im-prove. So they managed to prepare their fieldsand made houses and took care of their familiesand improved their lives. Those who were thererepeatedly requested the representatives of thegovernment regarding the miserable lives of thecolony, but they never listened to our appeals andbluffed us, they never reported to the higher au-thorities and our living situation never improved.

For us there was no road, no drinking water, nopond or well for taking a bath. When we com-plained, a pond was being dug with our help. We

were bound to work as labourers because therewere no other means of livelihood.

Some people could not manage to maintain theirfamilies due to many difficulties, so again somewere forced to migrate to different places for theirlivelihood. Some went to Rourkela and otherplaces to work under some contractors on dailywage bases, and in this way somehow maintainedtheir families.

In spite of all the difficulties and hardships, thedisplaced persons of the Lachhada RS Coloniesthey remained together united and they main-tained their unity and worked together, helpedeach other for their common survival.

Government had promised to give house forhouse but it was never being fulfilled. Instead,we were given two hundred Rupees to eachfamily to make a house. They instructed us tomake our own houses with this money. So wecould make our houses and fields by helping eachother unitedly. Until today we maintained ourunity, love and fellowship. Without this oursurvival was not possible. The greater majorityare Adivasi and this is our custom and culture tolive together. And we have continued this way.

Now we have no unity among us. Due to lack ofgood education, our children can not compete toothers. And our quality of life is not up to thestandard. With the help of the government, ourlife standard could have improved but unfortu-nately the government is not giving any attentionto us. We are neglected in all other fields and areliving an inhumane life.

Now it is more than 50 years ago, and there wasno electricity, and the people were in darknesswithout any electricity. But now recently elec-tricity line has been installed but till now electriccurrent is not supplied and people are still waitingfor electric light. We are still hoping for theGovernment of Orissa as well as RSP authoritiesthat in our colony a good road should be con-structed. But as we were expecting, the improve-ment of better roads in and around our coloniesdid not materialize.

We demand a pitch road, drinking water facilitieslike a dug-well, tube-wells as well as a bore-wellshould be provided. Till today we are using ourown well and getting water for us but this is notsufficient. So our people could be happier if thegovernment provides us clean water accordingto our demand...

- 26 -


At the end, I would like to say that the social wor-kers and human rights activists from Germanyare coming to our place regularly and arestudying the situation of the displaced persons.They have visited all resettlement colonies andmade survey work of these areas and know the

real situation of the displaced persons. So it is ourhumble request to them that they could look intothe matter personally and take necessary stepsfor the development of these resettlement co-lonies. We also expect some suggestions fromthem on how to improve our living conditions.

The growth of Rourkela from a tiny village to oneof the temples of steel technology has been ahistory of trials and tribulations, interspersed withmoments of stress and periods of success andglory, thus having all the ingredients of a completehuman drama...

There are mainly three branch lines in the district;one of which starts from Rourkela and the othertwo from Bondamunda Railway Station on themain line. The branch lines from Rourkela toBirmitrapur (28.9 kms) and from Bondamundato Barsuan (68.8 km) were constructed mainly forcarrying iron ore to the plant. The railwaymarshalling yard at Bondamunda and the linefrom Bondamunda to the Fertilizer Plant viaDumerta were also constructed only for thepurpose of the steel plant. From BimalgarhRailway Station of the last named branch line,there is a rail link to Kiriburu passing about 26.2kms. The third line starts from Bondamunda andcrosses the state border to Jharkhand at about 24kms near Nuagaon Railway Station. And further-more, from Nuagaon to Purnapani a link line hasbeen constructed to carry lime stone for RourkelaSteel Project. The plant marshalling yard, SouthEastern Railways marshalling yard and theconstruction of the railway line from Bonda-munda to Barsuan and Kiriburu are all exclusive-ly for Rourkela Steel Plant.

The first notification to meet the requirements forthe establishment of the steel project is publishedin The Orissa Gazette Extraordinary No 26,Cuttack, Tuesday 16 February 1954, NotificationNo-665-Dev-XVII-27/54-R...[this and otherhistorical documents are printed in: Adivasis ofRourkela; Bhubaneswar 2006 (sarini Occ.PapersNo. 4), pp. 10-11]

On the basis of THE ORISSA GAZETTEEXTRAORDINARY No- 56, CUTTACK, SATUR-DAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1956, REVENUE DEPART-MENT, NOTIFICATION, it is evident:- That in Orissa Gazette Extra Ordinary pub-

lished by Authority, No 32, Cuttack, Monday,February 22, 1954, Notification no 861 DevXVII 25/54 R, Notification no 861 Dev XVII-25/54 R, Notification no XVII-27/54 dated 16thFebruary 1954 regarding requisition of land forestablishment of a steel works and allied ancil-lary industries and Government buildings atRourkela in the District of Sundargarh, pub-lished in the Extra Ordinary issue of the OrissaGazett, dated the 16th February 1954 is hereby cancelled.

- That, the Government of Orissa acquired forpublic purpose, i.e. for construction of RailwayMarshalling Yard, Bondamunda; on the SouthEastern Railway the villages of Barhabans,Bartoli, Dumerta, Dumermunda, Kapatmun-da, Santoshpur, Pograbahal, Panposh, Bonda-munda, Kukuda and Barkani, land measuringmore or less 2,200 acres.

- That, after such acquisition the competentauthority have constructed marshalling yardfor Rourkela Steel Plant and S.E.R. marshallingyard and connecting lines from Bondamundato different areas are mentioned earlier onlyfor the purpose of Rourkela Steel Plant.

So the growth of marshalling yards (consistingof hamping yard, departure yard, exchange yard,diesel shed, loco shed, department) from tinyvillages to one of the most successful (Asia’ssecond) marshalling yards, has been history.

I like to point out here on the Orissa Gazette ExtraOrdinary, Published by authority, Cuttack, Friday,

Statement by Mr. Charan Mahato, Advocate, Rourkela

“The Tears of Displaced Persons - Run Over by Rails at Bondamunda”(Edited English manuscript)


- 27 -

July 26, 1957 PART-III, Regulations, Orders,Notifications, Rules, etc., issued by the Governor,by the High Court, and by the Heads of Depart-ments, Political and Services Department, Notifi-cations No. 7999-P-Clear- that the lands specially mentioned below (full

or part) are no longer required by the StateGovernment and in respect to which no pos-session has been taken.

- Now therefore in exercise of the powersconferred by Section-6-A of the said Act, theState Government do hereby withdraw fromthe acquisition of land.

Mouza (Police Station) Area1. Barhabans Bisra Ac 22.05 res2. Bartoli Bisra Ac 52.49 res3. Dumerta Bisra Ac 361.82 res4. Dumermunda Bisra Ac 13.30 res5. Kapatmunda Bisra Ac 0.14 res6. Santoshpur Bisra Ac 24.47 res7. Pograbahal Bisra Ac 410.90 res8. Panposh Raghunathpali Ac 73.86 res9. Bondamunda Bisra Ac 413.80 res10.Kukuda Bisra Ac 354.39 res11.Barkani Raghunathpali Ac 267.83 res

Grand total tenant land Ac 2,193.04 res

[There is a discrepancy here: the accurate addingof the above figures gives a total of Ac 1,995.05. Itis not clear whether this mistake is in the originaldocument quoted or simply a typing error; ed.]

Homestead landMouza (Police Station) Area

1. Barhabans Bisra Ac 5.57 res2. Dumerta Bisra Ac 3.52 res3. Pograbahal Bisra Ac 6.05 res4. Panpost Raghunathpali Ac 3.02 res5. Bondamunda Bisra Ac 6.31 res6. Barkani Bisra Ac 8.05 res7. Kukuda Bisra Ac 9.32 res

Grand total of homestead land Ac 41.84 res

Orissa District Gazetteer, Sundargarh, indicatesthat to help displaced person to resettle and re-habilitate themselves, the following assistancehave been given and expenditure incurred whichare shared equally between Hindustan SteelLimited and the State Government:a. A plot of land measuring 60’x40' in the resettle-

ment colonies free of cost for construction ofhouses by each family.

b. A subsidy to each family ranging from Rs.200/- to Rs 400/- for the construction of new houses,

c. Grant of cultivable waste land in lieu ofacquired cultivated land free of cost up to aminimum of 33 acres to each recorded tenant,and

d. Land reclamation subsidy of Rs.100/- per acreto each family.

Furthermore, again the office of the Deputy Com-missioner, Land Acquisition & Resettlement,Rourkela at Sundargarh, and Chief Engineers(Cons) S.E.Railway, Bilaspur [available in xeroxcopy} also clearly indicate to return 651 acressurplus acquisition lands which should be firstoffered to the persons from whom they wereacquired or to their heirs, if discoverable.

FindingsI. That, the acquisition of land for the purpose

of marshalling yard, allied and ancillaryindustries for Rourkela Steel Plant is illegal inthe Scheduled Area, as it hit the provision ofthe Fifth Schedule Articles 244(i) of the Con-stitution of India.

II. The acquisition authority failed to help thedisplaced persons to resettle and rehabilitatethem as they were unable to providea. Residential plot of land measuring 60' x 40'in the resettlement colonies free of cost forconstruction of houses by each family.b. Grant of cultivable waste land in lieu ofacquired cultivated land free of cost up to amaximum of 33 acres to each recorded tenant.

III. Rourkela Steel Plant, Rourkela, intentionallyneglected to provide service to unemployedcandidates who appeared for interview inR.S.P. from year 1992 to 1995, on S.S.W. thoughthey previously appointed others on the sameground of Bondamunda [document availablewith the editors in xerox copy].

IV. The administrative authories knowingly notcomplied with the points of agreement in themeeting with local displaced persons ofAnchalika Surakhya Samiti and RourkelaLocal Displaced Association on 11.01.2006 atBondamunda [document available with theeditors in xerox copy].

V. The State Government knowingly not returnedthe notified surplus lands to the originaltenants or their legal heirs to grab the valuablelands of tribals and aboriginals, and on theother hand, allowing illegal construction tooutsiders in a pre-planed action to de-schedulethe Scheduled Area.

VI. The KfW funds are not properly utilized forthe development of displaced persons, bututilized for non-displaced persons and also inother districts.

- 28 -


VII. To protect and to get back the surplus landof Rourkela Steel Project, the tribal personshave filed several civil cases in the lower court,District Court and Writ Petitions in theHonorable High Court of Orissa. But all thetribals are unable to get justice from the Court.And on the other hand, the State Governmentis leasing the surplus land to the non-tribalsfor private purpose for huge amounts inRourkela and other areas of SundargarhDistrict.

Conclusion and PrayWe, the Displaced Persons need the solidarity andsupport from the Government of Germany,SARINI and Adivasi-Koordination to safeguardthe human rights of the Displaced Persons, i.e.,1. alternative livelihood (other than agriculture)

and safeguards to the life and property oftribals, capacity building of Displaced Persons;

2. to envision, formulate and accompany develop-ment;

3. to give financial aid to the marginalized Dis-placed Persons.

Statement by Mr. Peter Paul Celestin Minz, Advocate, Rourkela

“Displacement by Mandira Dam Project”(Edited English manuscript)

...For the establishment of Rourkela Steel Plantthe Government of Orissa acquired 19,722.69acres [handwritten note on the margin of themanuscript: 25,012.15 acres] of land, 2465 familiesof 32 villages were displaced. Similarly in the year1957-58, Mandira Dam Project was constructedover the Shankha river in order to supply waterto Rourkela Steel Plant. For the said project11,923.98 acres of fertile land was acquired, and941 families of 31 villages were uprooted or dis-placed. They were allotted small pieces of rockyand hilly uncultivable land to settle down indifferent areas of Sundargarh and other districts.Thus the Government has acquired approximate-ly 33,000 acres of tribal land for the purpose ofRourkela Steel Plant, Fertilizer Township, SteelTownship, railways, NIT, Railway Siding Bonda-munda, air strip and Mandira Dam Project. Forthe acquisition of tribal land for Rourkela SteelPlant and Mandira Dam Project, the Governmentof Orissa established a Land Acquisition Officeat Rourkela, and the said Office has been lookedafter by the A.D.M. Rourkela in the mattersrelating to land acquisition and settlement ofdisplaced families.

What exactly happened in the last 60 years fromthe establishment of Rourkela Steel Plant andMandira Dam Project:

1. That, the notice of acquisition of land as re-quired under section 3 of the Act XVIII of 1948was published, but no notice was served to thelandlord or owner. By invoking the power

under section-5 of the Act XVIII 1948, theDistrict Administration forcibly took overpossession of the land, houses of illiterate,innocent Scheduled Tribal persons of theaffected villages.

2. That, after the construction of Mandira Dam,a vast area of Rayati agricultural lands of 12villages in the upper side of Mandira Damwere badly affected by sand cast due to stagna-tion/storages of water in the Mandira DamReservoir. Such villages are Daiki, Kendudihi,Rangabira, Konmendra, Bhesalvadi, Tarkera,Samlaimunda, Laxmiposh, Sadhumunda,Mugdand, Sahajbahal, Nagratoli, etc.

3. That, it is also very much regretted that theSAIL authority fully neglected the peripheraldevelopment in the affected areas. As per myknowledge, to three to four villages SAILprovides school room, tubewell, communitycentre, but other villages on both sides of theShankha river have been totally neglected frombeginning till date. A detailed list of neglectedvillages, block-wise, is furnished below....a. Kuarmunda BlockJaidega, Purnapani, San-Kuchlu, Budhikudar,Pandricila, Dumadega, Kansbahal, Kendudihi,Dalki, Kuarmunda, Thuyabahal, Bhesalvadi,Dublabeda, Nagratoli, Rangabira, Jhanda-pahar, Dhaurakhaman, etc.b. Kutra BlockSamlaimunda, Sadhumunda, Tarkera, Laxmi-posh, etc.


- 29 -

c. Rajgangpur BlockBheluadihi, Hatimunda, Kukudamunda. Bud-Kuchlu, Sarumohan, Gobarpethi, Khairdihi,Khejurdihi, Laing, etc.

4. That, when I became a chairman at Kuarmun-da Block in the years 1997 to 2002, I had com-municated several letters and physically pre-sented before the periphery authority, but nofruitful result was received at that time. It isalso mentioned here that the SAIL authoritytake up peripheral or development works andalso conduct games in non-displaced areas likeKacharu, Civil Village, Chikatmati, Salanga-bahal, and other areas. Similarly, SAIL con-structed Bastia Bhawan, Bhanja Bhawan, CivicCenter and other Bhawans, but these Bhawansare used by the outsiders or general publicpeople with the blessings of the SAIL authorityand the State bureaucrats. So here our tribalpeople displaced of both Rourkela as well asMandira are intentionally neglected till date.

5. That, during the time of rehabilitation so manyvillage tribal people have not been settled butthrown out in different areas like beasts in thejungle, e.g., Lachda, Kendro, Bartaghutu, Sili-kata, Hathidarsa, Champajharan, Laing, Ush-ra, Bankibahal, Jaidega, Dhuankata, etc., andhave been cheated badly of their basic ameni-ties of life. Here the State Government as wellas the SAIL authority clearly violated the fun-damental rights of tribals and the Fifth Sche-dule of the Indian Constitution which is ap-plicable in the Scheduled Area, i.e. SundargarhDistrict of Orissa.

6. That, the SAIL authority and State Adminis-tration also knowingly neglected to provideservice at R.S.P. to Rourkela and Mandira Damaffected persons as well as other tribal persons.It is also a fact that after a span of 60 years theSAIL authority is not able to provide serviceto uncovered khatiyan [“(in the) record”] per-sons displaced from Mandira area. But it isvery much true and correct that near aboutthree to four thousand employees of R.S.P areforged or fake displaced person who got suchopportunity with the help of SAIL officers, theState Administration or bureaucrates forpersonal gain or interest or benefit.

7. That, at present many affected tribal personscame to the A.D.M. Office, Rourkela, for theirverification and found that their khatiyan hasbeen covered or somebody else is working intheir khatiyan. Finding no alternative, some of

them take shelter of the Court against theculprits, and some filed applications againstthe culprits to the SAIL authority. But noresponse came through the SAIL authority orSAIL vigilance, nor did they accept the decree/judgment order of the Court for the purposeof service for the genuine displaced persons.So this type of harassment/suffering was madeto the tribals day to day at present.

8. That, it is also fact that in R.S.P. departmentslike coke-oven, S.M.S. Blast Furnace, a hugenumber of tribals are engaged, whereas gene-ral people are posted to suitable places. Andin case any award is declared by the Plant, thatcredit goes to only the general category people- not to the tribals. Similarly, some workers andofficers are engaged in part time businessduring duty time like L.I.C. [“Life InsuranceCorporation”] agent, postal agent, sharetransport business and other business, but noaction has been taken by the SAIL authorityagainst these persons.

9. That, it is also important to mention here thatin the case of plots allotted by the Governmentin different areas like Jalda, Jhirpani, Lachada,Kendro and other R.S. Colonies, where theallotted persons or their families are not stay-ing in the said plot, some of them have notreceived any lease bond or khatiyan in thisregard. In some places outsiders also capturethe plot and the Government is also not takingany steps in this regard.

10.That, there are few dimensions that are directlyrelated to displacement. They are geographicaldimension, psychological dimension, theeconomic dimension, the social dimension, thepolitical dimension and spiritual dimension:Geographical dimensionDisplacement causes total geographical dis-location. The people have to leave their familiargeographical environment which providedthem with everything like jungle, hills, trees,streams, birds, etc, which are left behindbecause of the displacement.Psychological dimensionThe pain of detachment from all familiar sur-roundings like natural environment includingforest, hills, streams as well as trees, friends,relatives, etc., brings a mental shock due todisplacement.Economic dimensionAgricultural lands, both recorded and unre-corded, were alienated. People lose their land,house, trees, ponds, animals and other things.

- 30 -


Here Mr. McGrath, former director of XISS[“Xavier Institute of Social Science”], Ranchi,says, “Where Adivasis lost their land, they losteverything forever.”Social dimensionDue to displacement people lost their social,cultural, feast, festival, custom, tradition andother relationship with different tribal peopleof this locality and they also lost their contactor relationship forever.Political and spiritual dimensionsHere people also lose their political as well asspiritual relationship forever because of thedisplacement.

Critical analysisAfter 50 years of struggle, the displaced Adivasisnever got justice in their home district. It is theircomplaint that they have been cheated fraudu-lently, their fertile lands have been snatched awayfrom them, and now they became landless.

Moreover, 60 per cent displaced people have notreceived their compensation. A majority of themhave not been given employment by RSP. Theyhave not been provided land for land. Non-dis-placed persons have been employed after gettingdisplaced certificates, and real displaced personsare deprived of their service in RSP. In spite oftheir complaints, the authorities are not taking anyaction against the persons who have been em-ployed in RSP. by their fake displaced certificates.

The Orissa Government has not made any com-prehensive resettlement and rehabilitation policyfor the solution of the man made problems.

Similarly, it is believed that the funds utilized inthe name of peripheral development have notreached the displaced persons of different areas.It is also a fact that the funds have been mis-utilized and diverted for the beautification ofRourkela Township and outside the District ofSundargarh, for which the resettlement colonieshave been totally neglected.

Injustice to the displaced AdivasisThe Government of Orissa acquired about 33,000acres of land and handed over the same to R.S.P.After being utilized for the public purpose, theR.S.P. authorities have surrendered about 14,000

acres of surplus land to the State Government.According to the assurance given, the surplusland should have been returned back to theoriginal owners of the land. But a lease agreementin respect of the land under possession of R.S.P.was executed between R.S.P. and the Governmentof Orissa on 01.07.1993 after 40 years of intervalafter the acquisition of the land.

In between, the Government of Orissa illegallycarried out the construction work of RegionalEngineering College, Railway Stockyard, CivilTownship, Industrial State, private housingcolonies of Orissa at Basanti Colony, ChhendColony, Koelnagar, Shaktinagar, etc., for thesettlement of outsiders which do not come underthe preview of the public purpose. The Govern-ment of Orissa, instead of returning the un-utilized land of the Adivasis, has illegally leasedout to non-displaced persons, outsiders, business-men, politicians, industrialists, governmentofficers, rich influential persons, at exorbitantrates. The Government of Orissa has acquired thetribal lands at the rate of Rs. 300 to 600 per acre,and now the same surplus land is sold out at therate of Rs one crore per acre or above.

In this way the tribal land acquired for the publicpurpose has been given to the private purpose.The displaced Adivasis have been cheated andsuffer irreparable injustice. Now the local tribalsand displaced persons have lost their courage tofight against injustice and treacherous behaviorof the ruling class. The Government of Orissa hasfailed to understand the real problems anddifficulties of the tribals of Sundargarh Districtin the State of Orissa.

ConclusionNo citizen of India is against any developmentproject. In fact, the planning process presumesthat displacement is inevitable. But the plannersof the project have to see that all citizens have theright to live with human dignity. Before anydisplacement takes place, the affected personsshould be resettled and rehabilitated first. TheState Government has the moral obligation to takecare of the displaced persons and to improve theirliving conditions. But in the case of R.S.P. and theMandira Dam Project, the displaced persons havebecome the sacrificial lambs for the nation.


- 31 -

Statement by Mr. Ambrose Kujur, General Secretary of SZVVP, R.S.Colony Lachhada

“Isolated and burning painful life of the displaced Adivasis”(Edited English manuscript)

INTRODUCTIONMandira Dam was built across the river Sankhain 1958 to supply water for Rourkela Steel Plant.It is also situated in the District of Sundargarh.Before the completion of the Mandira reservoir,the people were displaced from their ancestralland property. It was a pitiful feeling of the peoplewhen they received the notices. I myself, AmbroseKujur, on behalf of the displaced persons ofLachhda, Kendro and Silikata Resettlement Colo-nies, would like to put some of the pathetic prob-lems before you:

31 villages were affected due to Mandira Dam.The people of the displaced villages of MandiraDam area were broken and shocked to receivethe notices for evacuation from their native villa-ges. It was more painful for them than the deathof a person. They could not understand what todo and where to go. Our forefathers had beenliving peacefully together for ages. But their lifewas now extinguished in no time. The peoplecould not imagine how to take all their domesticanimals, birds, rice and property with them. Thecrying and weeping of the people was heardeverywhere, when the constables brought trucksearly in the morning. At that time, some of thefamily members of the villages were not ready toleave their native places. But the authorities forcedthem to arrange their things and load them onthe trucks. People were weeping not to go fromtheir native place. During this operation onlyhousehold things and rice packets were taken bythe trucks. It was a matter of great regret thatdomestic animals such as cows, goats, sheep,birds, were not brought by the trucks. It took 10to 15 days to bring their domestic animals to theircolonies on foot because there was no means ofconveyance to take them. This pitiful situationbroke their hearts. Many women and childrenhad nervous breakdowns. Against our will, wewere brought to Lachhda, Kendro and Silikata.

ARRANGEMENTS PROVIDEDIN THE RESETTLEMENT COLONIESThere was no advance arrangement in the R.S.Colonies except temporary sheds. It was a veryunbearable situation in the month of March dueto scorching heat and scarcity of water. Thepeople’s sorrows were endless: to see nothing buthills and thick forest around. The thatched cot-tages were not worthy for living. The rooms were

made 10 x 8 feet, so there was not even sufficientspace to keep their things. Therefore some of thepeople put their things on the side of the roadand others put them under trees. The rooms werefull of grass, leaves and gravel. They were notbetter than cow sheds. It took many days toprepare the rooms for residing in them. Due torain, the rooms got thoroughly wet also.

There was no arrangement for water. Water wasbrought from a muddy and dirty pond by truckfrom Kundheidiha village which is situated 5 kmsaway. Due to using that water, a lot people wereattacked by small pox, cholera, diarrhea and losttheir lives.

DISTRIBUTION OF LANDAND INDIVIDUAL HOUSE BUILDINGIt took five years to build houses and to distributeland to the people. During this time, people couldnot cultivate any sort of crops. So they spent theirmoney buying edible things. Due to this, themoney they got ran short.

The socio-economic condition of the people wasmiserable. The atmosphere of the new place wasnot suitable to them. So many people came backand settled here and there. Our previous farmingland was fertile land in the river basin. But thegovernment had given us only hilly, stony, un-cultivable land. There was much cultivated landin our old villages. According to Orissa DistrictGazettes Sundargarh 1975, it is mentioned that33 acres of land are to be allotted to each pattaholder. But here we got much less land.

INFRASTRUCTURAL PROVISIONSIN THE RESETTLEMENT COLONIESThe government has not made any educationinstitution in the R.S. Colony. Father Herman ofKantapali Parish started Primary Education. Afterthis, our people started Middle Education andHigh School from their own efforts and con-tributions. After twelve years, the High School gotits recognition. Our children were debarred fromgetting proper education.

There is no hospital in our colony. The govern-ment is simply not taking any interest in treatmentfor our people. For lack of treatment people aredying in large numbers every year.

- 32 -


There was no provision of electricity for 52 years.Many times people had applied for the supplyof electricity. Last year only [in 2009] our villagewas connected, but still many people are debarredof getting electricity.

52 years have passed, and there is no road com-munication to this Resettlement Colony fromRourkela. Roads are not in good condition, so itis very difficult to go elsewhere during the rainyseason.

REACTIONS OF THE DISPLACED FAMILIES(a) We have sacrificed our parental proper-

ties for the national development.What have we got in return ?

(b) All is well planned to abolish and destroyfully the Adivasi society of Sundargarh.

(c) We, the displaced persons have beenthrown back 100 years from the civilizedworld.

(d) Here in our colony, we are debarred ofgetting proper education and so we arenot getting jobs in the government ornon-government service. On the otherhand, outsiders are getting better serviceand proper education.

(e) It is the motto and inner policy of thegovernment to keep us uneducated,illiterate and giving us harassment inevery respect.

(f) The government is making business byselling the balance land to capitalists andbusiness men. So that the Adivasis cannotsurvive.

DEMANDS OF THE ROURKELA AND MAN-DIRA DAM DISPLACED PERSONSEconomic Demands(a) The members of each displaced family

should be considered for service in SAIL/RSP according to their qualification.

(b) Those who are illiterate they should alsobe considered for service in RSP, Rour-kela.

(c) Employment of some people working inSAIL/RSP, Rourkela, showing forgeddisplaced documents, should be termi-nated immediately [a list of such persons isavailable with the author and the editors ofthis publication].

(d) Land should be provided to each tenantas per the old khata number.

(e) The tenants who are displaced andvictimized due to factories, mines and

other development works in SundargarhDistrict should be paid the right amountand they should be provided jobs in therespective factories. This facility shouldbe given to all age groups together.

(f) There are many shops in Rourkela andCivil Township. 25 per cent of the shopsshould be allotted to the displacedpersons without security money.

(g) The so-called T.N. Singh formula [one jobper displaced family] for employment inRSP, Rourkela, should be abolished.

Demands for education, health care and infrastructure(h) There are U.P., M.E. and a High School in

the R.S. Colony. Due to shortage of tea-chers, educational work is hampered.So the RSP management should considerto ap-point teachers in those schools.

(i) Due to miserable economic conditions,the displaced persons residing in Lachh-da, Kendro and Silikata are not able tosend their children for higher education.So, a college should be established thereitself by RSP.

(j) Two separate hostels (boys/girls) shouldbe constructed for the students.

(k) We are displaced persons and we havethe equal right to enjoy medical facility asothers in Rourkela. So, there should be ahospital of 50 beds in R.S. Colony Lachh-da.

(l) Medical cards should be issued to eachdisplaced family for free treatment inIspat General Hospital (IGH) in Rourkela.

(m) An ambulance should be given toLachhda for taking serious patients toIGH.

(n) Permanent water supply project fordrinking water and irrigation.

(o) Metalled roads should be constructedfrom Rourkela to all the R.S. Colonies.

(p) Electricity and telephone lines should besupplied to the R.S. Colonies.

We have sacrificed our ancestral properties forthe development and interest of the nation. Dueto this, our economic backbone has beencompletely broken. We are living in darkness. Ourfuture is nowhere.

We, the members of the displaced families dorequest you (all RSP and Rourkela administrativeauthorities, ministers, officers) to consider toredress our demands as soon as possible.


- 33 -

At that time,1948, the prevalent law under whichthe land was admitted, was not the proper law.So that land acquisition took place … illegally.

Land was acquired without any proper law andwithout any proper and appropriate policy. As aresult of this today we see that so many peoplehave been deprived of their rightful claim to land,housing and employment.

So much of atrocities have been done. They havevoiced their complaints again and again Theyhave once sent an application to the Governorwhen he visited Rourkela requesting a judicialenquiry on the RSP acquired land. That applica-tion was forwarded to the Collector, instructingthe Collector to do the needful action. And thatneedful action is not defined. It has remained inremote.

So this is the way that the displaced people havesuffered so long:

Statement by Mr. Vimal Banerji, LDA, Rourkela(Edited from the English summary given by Mr. Sunil Jojo)

- in relation to deprivation of their land,- in relation to marginalisation,- in relation to deprivation of the right to

employment,and they are suffering.

Here is a stark example of how the land had beenalienated, and how the outsiders are doingbusiness on that land: Some time back, in CivilTownship there was a sale of a land, eightdecimals, which was auctioned for one crore 8lakhs (1,08,00,000 Rs). This shows how surplusland which was said to be returned to the rightfulowners, is now under business.

Now the question is to strengthen this process ofour fight. And we are requesting you to raise thisissue with international human rightsorganisations that so much of atrocities has beendone by the state government and centralgovernment on Adivasis. That could be rightfullyclaimed for justice and that people can benefit.

Mr.V. Banerji handed over a few documents in xerox copyto support his points. These are with the editors and theirimportant contents will be covered in a separate publication.

Adivasis have been cheated and oppressed inrelation to land acquisition and employment.

As per their claim, RSP and the districtgovernment have provided employment:but actually it is not true.

They have given affidavit to claim that 4,500 havebeen provided jobs. But it is not true.

As for those who are having jobs in the factory,our guess is that over 75 per cent could be forgerycases. And in fact there are cases which areforgery, but so far not much action has been taken.

33 acres of land was claimed to be provided toevery displaced family. That is not true.

...

Statement by Mr. Sudarshan Ekka, General Secretary of LDA, Rourkela(Edited from the English summary given by Mr. Sunil Jojo. Unfortunately the recording has been incomplete)

- 34 -


Land Acquisition for Rourkela Steel Plant & Mandira Damin the Scheduled District of Sundargarh

Fr. Celestine XaxaAdivasis for Social and Human Rights Action (ASHRA), Rourkela, Orissa

I. INTRODUCTIONWith regard to the India’s tribal population, thefounding fathers of the Constitution of the newindependent nation defined and classified the"Scheduled Areas" and the "Tribal Areas". Article244 (1) of the Constitution of India explicitly statesthat the provisions of the Fifth Schedule to theConstitution shall be applied in respect of theadministration and control of the ScheduledAreas in any State other than the States of Assam,Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram. The provisionsof the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution areapplied for the administration of Tribal Areas inthose north-eastern states.

The Fifth SchedulePart B, Paragraph (4) of the Fifth Schedule statesthat there shall be in each State having a‘Scheduled Area’, a Tribes Advisory Council(TAC) consisting of not more than twentymembers of whom, as nearly as may be, threefourths shall be the representatives of theScheduled Tribes in the Legislative Assembly ofthe State. It was the duty of the Tribes AdvisoryCouncil to advise on matters pertaining to thewelfare and advancement of the Scheduled Tribesin the State.

Part B, Paragraph (5) of the Fifth Schedule statesthat the Governor of the State may by publicnotification direct that any particular Act ofParliament or the Legislature of the State shall notapply to a Scheduled Area or would apply subjectto such exceptions and modifications as he mayspecify. The Governor of the State may also makeregulations for the peace and good governmentof any area in a State which is for the time being aScheduled Area. The Governor of the State hasalso been given the power to repeal or amend anyexisting Act of Parliament or of the Legislature ofthe State which is for the time being applicable tothe area in question. - Hence, it is very clear thatthe intention the framers of the Constitution, byincluding the Fifth Schedule, was that of aseparate administrative scheme for the ScheduledAreas in order to address the special needs oftribal communities.In exercise of the powers conferred by Part B,

Paragraph 6 (1) of the Fifth Schedule to theConstitution of India, the President of India madean order known as the Scheduled Areas (Part AStates) Order, 1950. This included the State ofOrissa and came into force with immediate effect.As per the Scheduled Areas (Part ‘A’ States) Order1950, CO. 9, Sundargarh, Mayurbhanj andKoraput Districts in the State of Orissa werespecified and declared by the President of Indiaas Scheduled Districts. Again, in exercise ofpowers conferred by Sub-paragraph (2) ofParagraph 6 of the Fifth Scheduled to theConstitution of India, the President of India hasmade an order which is known as the ScheduledAreas (States of Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradeshand Orissa), Order, 1977. In this order, the Presi-dent has redefined the said Scheduled Areaswithin the States of Bihar, Gujarat, MadhyaPradesh and Orissa. Accordingly, the rescindedScheduled Areas of the State of Orissa are listedbelow :-i. Mayurbhanj Districtii. Sundargarh Distirctiii. Koraput District

II. LAND ACQUISITION OF SAIL, ROURKELA STEEL PLANT& MANDIRA DAM

(a) Intention of Creating Scheduled AreaAs stated above, the District of Sundargarh in theState of Orissa has been specified, demarcated,notified and declared as Scheduled Area by thePresident of India. The entire soil of the ScheduledDistrict of Sundargarh is specifically demarcatedand allocated exclusively for the permanent settle-ment and habitation by the Scheduled Tribesalone and by none else and never by the generalbody of people consisting of various differentcommunities and castes. No person other than amember of the Scheduled Tribe has the right tolive on soil declared by the President of India tobe the Scheduled Area.

(b) The Land Acquisition Act, 1894The Land Acquisition Act of 1894 is a legal Act inIndia which allows the Government of India to


- 35 -

acquire any land in the country for public pur-pose. Land Acquisition literally means acquiringof land for some public purpose by government/government agency, as authorized by the law,from the individual land owner(s) after payinggovernment fixed compensation in lieu of lossesincurred by land owner(s) due to surrenderingto their land to the concerned government agency.

(c) Land Acquisition for Rourkela Steel Plant(RSP) and Mandira Dam

Let us critically analyse how the Government ofOrissa has acquired tribal land for RSP andMandira Dam. The Government of Orissa hasacquired 19,722.55 acres for the establishment ofRSP and 33 tribal villages were uprooted.Similarly, 11,923.98 acres of land were acquiredfor the construction of Mandira Dam in the year1957-58 where 31 tribal villages were displaced.The displaced families were resettled in theresettlement colonies of

(1) Jalda ‘A’ Block(2) Jalda ‘B’ Block(3) Jalda ‘C’ Block(4) Jhirpani -‘A’- & ‘B’ Colonies(5) Bondamunda ‘A’ & ‘B’ Colonies(6) Lachhada(7) Kendro(8) Silikata(9) Hathidharsa(10) Laing Colony(11) Ushra Colony(12) Bankibahal(13) Jaidega ‘A’ & ‘B’ Colonies(14) Jhanda Pahar(15) Ulanda Jharan(16) Champa Jharan (Jhirpani)(17) Gahami(18) Amgaon etc.

Thus in total, the Government of Orissa acquiredapproximately 33,000 acres of land for the pur-pose of establishing RSP and Mandira Damproject under the provisions of the Land Acqui-sition Act, 1894.

III. ILLEGALITY OF THE GOVT. ACTIONThe provisions made in the Land Acquisition Act,1894, however, were not applicable to the Sche-duled Area of Sundargarh District as per anypublic notification issued by the Governor ofOrissa under sub-clause (1) of clause (5) of Part Bof the Fifth Schedule to the Constitution of India.So, the provisions of law made in the LandAcquisition Act of 1894 were - in reality andlegally - not in force in the Scheduled Areas ofSundargarh District.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Govern-ment of Orissa did NOT follow the provisions ofthe Land Acquisition Act of 1894 for the estab-lishment of RSP and Mandira Dam. Instead, theGovernment of Orissa acquired the said triballand under the provisions of the Orissa Deve-lopment of Industries, Irrigation, Agriculture,Capital Construction & Resettlement of DisplacedPersons (Land Acquisition) Act, 1948 (Orissa ActXVIII of 1948).

Whatever may be the case, the acquisition of landfor the establishment of RSP and Mandira Damacquired by the Government of Orissa as definedunder Article 12 of the Constitution of India, in aScheduled Area is a violation of the provision ofClause (6) of Part C of the Fifth Schedule to theConstitution of India, since the President of Indiahad not made a declaration to the effect that anyland acquired by the Central Government or anyother authority as defined in Article 12 of theConstitution of India would cease to form part ofthe Scheduled Area.

Hence, in the absence of any Gazette Notificationof the President of India for the purpose of theacquisition of land for the establishment of RSPand Mandira Dam in the Scheduled Area, theacquisition of land under the provisions of theLand Acquisition Act of 1894 or of the Orissa Act,XVIII of 1948 is altogether void and should bedeclared to be void and unconstitutional. So, thevery process of land acquisition for RSP &Mandira Dam is illegal, void, ultra-vires andunconstitutional. It is also very clear that whileacquiring the tribal land for R S P & Mandira Dam,the Government of Orissa circumvented theprovisions of sub-clause (2) of clause (5) of thePart B of the Fifth Schedule to the Constitution ofIndia. In addition, the acquisition of land for themarshalling yard at Bondamunda, displacing 9villages, is also illegal, void and unconstitutionalin the same way as stated above in the case ofRSP & Mandira Dam.

The Government of Orissa acquired approxi-mately 33,000 acres of land and handed over thesame to the RSP/SAIL authorities for the publicpurpose. The SAIL/RSP authorities utilized about19,000 acres of land for the establishment of RSPand Mandira Dam and the rest about 14,000 acresof surplus land were surrendered to the Govern-ment of Orissa. According to the assurance given,the surplus land should have been returned backto the original owners of the land. But a leaseagreement in respect of the land under possessionof RSP was executed between RSP and the

- 36 -


Government of Orissa on 01-07-1993, after 40years of interval of the acquisition of land. Inbetween, the Government of Orissa illegallyleased out the surplus land for the constructionof Regional Engineering College, Rourkela,South-Eastern Railway Stock Yard, constructionof Basanti Colony, Chhend Housing Colony,Kalinga Vihar, Durgapur Foot Hill HousingScheme, Balughat area, Shaktinagar, Koel Nagar,LIC Colony, Bastia Memorial, Adarsa Pathagar,Ispat Anjuman, Sri Aurobindo Yoga Mandir,Vivekananda Education Society, Satyasai SevaSamiti, Hanuman Vatika etc.

It is pertinent to mention here that the StateGovernment of Orissa has framed a rule, videRevenue Department Notification No. 22333/R.G.E, Sundargarh 1 of 68 on 12-01-1968 in thename and style “SPECIAL RULES FORDISPOSAL OF GOVT. LAND IN CIVIL TOWN-SHIP AREA AT ROURKELA.” This civil townshiparea is named as 7 & 8 Developed Area. Approxi-mately 300 acres of tribal land acquired by theState Government from the local Adivasi arebeing allotted from 1971 onwards to non-tribalsparticularly to influential prospective leaders suchas bureaucrats, political leaders, ministers, highofficials of the State, big business persons of theState, revenue authorities and industrialists atexorbitant rates by way of lease, allotment,auction, sale, which are beyond the reach of thepoor displaced adivasis. The Civil Township hasbeen established on the tribal land who havesacrificed their ancestral land in the name ofdevelopment of the country and they were merci-lessly thrown away to far away jungle to live withanimals. The Government of Orissa has definitelycircumvented the tribal laws in the ScheduledArea and disregarded the Fundamental Rights ofthe Tribals guaranteed under Article 19 of theConstitution of India. Orissa Regulation- 2 wasnot applied to the non-tribals who have beenillegally occupied tribal land at Civil TownshipRourkela.

It is the malafide intention of the State Govern-ment to genocide the tribal communities in theScheduled District of Sundargarh in the name ofnational development. Instead of returning theunutilized land of the displaced Adivasis, theGovernment of Orissa has illegally settled non-displaced persons, outsiders, businessmen poli-ticians, industrialists high government officials,rich influential persons in very high rates.

The State Government of Orissa has acquired thetribal land at the rate of Rs 300/- to 700/- per acre,

and the same surplus land is sold out at the rateof one crore rupees per acre through RourkelaDevelopment Authority (RDA). Recently in theoffice of the Sub-Collector, Panposh at Uditnagar,the tribal lands of Civil Township in 7&8 Areahave been auctioned at rate of 15 lakhs perdecimal. Is it meant for any public purpose?

RDA, which has no legal loco, stands to sell triballand in the Scheduled Area to non-tribals. In thisway the tribal land acquired for the publicpurpose is given away for the private purpose.

The displaced Adivasis have been cheated andsuffered irreparable loss The local tribals feeltotally deceived and illusioned by the StateGovernment of Orissa and RSP authonfes. Theyare pressing their demands by taking recourse todharnas rallies demonstrations, memoranda,lobbies and advocacies, but so far they have nevergot any justice from the concerned authorities.

III. PATHETIC CONDITIONSOF THE DISPLACED PERSONS

The living conditions of the displaced Adivasisand Dalits are very pathetic They have beenneglected by the RSP authorities as well as theconcerned state authorities. They were uprootedfrom their hearth and home and resettled indifferent R.S. Colonies. The RSP and governmentauthorities have not even visited most of theremote R.S. Colonies, such as Lachhada, Kendro.Silikata, Ulanda Jharan, Jhanda Pahar, Hathi-dharsa, Champa Jharan (Jhirpani), Gahami andAmgaon. These R.S. colonies are neglected verymuch.

The concerned authorities never bother for theupliftment of the victims of the R.S. Colonies. Inthe name of the development of the country, theOrissa Government has taken away excessiveareas of tribal land and the displaced Adivasiswere dumped to far away R.S. Colonies withouthaving any specific plan for them. Inspite of thelarge-scale displacement of the tribals and Dalits,the Government of Orissa does not have anycomprehensive R&R policy till today. The recentR&R policy of the government does not give anyrelief to these long suffering victims. The socialand human rights activists of ASHRA (Adivasisfor Social & Human Rights Action) and someactive members of Adivasi Koordination inGermany, a registered society, visited a numberof times all resettlement colonies. After visitingand making research of these affected colonies,they have expressed their deep concern. They


- 37 -

have expressed their deep love and solidarity tothese affected Adivasis.

Indeed, the displaced Adivasis are living in a verypathetic condition in their respective R.S. colonies.They have been thrown away to faraway denseforests where they do not have their basic ameni-ties of life, such as drinking water, roads, electri-city, dug wells, ponds, education facility, healthcentres, recreation halls, play ground, club,market complex, vocational training centres,irrigation facilities. Before their displacement, thegovernment authorities and RSP authorities hadgiven promises and assurance to theme to giveland for land, house for house, employment tothe displaced families, adequate compensation tothe land losers etc. But even after the lapse of fiftyyears, all such assurances remained in pen andpaper only.

It is pertinent to mention here that in OrissaDistrict Gazetteers, Sundargarh, on page 96 it isrecorded that:-

“The following assistance has been givenand expenditure incurred which are sharedequally between HSL and the State Govern-ment :-(a) A plot of land measuring 60’x40' in theresettlement colonies free of cost for con-struction of houses by each family.(b) A subsidy to each family ranging fromRs.200/- to Rs.400/- for the construction ofnew houses.(c) Grant of cultivable waste land in lieu ofacquired cultivated land free of cost up to amaximum of 33 acres to each recordedtenant and,(d) Land reclamation subsidy of Rs.100/-per acre to each family.”

The declaration made in the Orissa DistrictGazette, Sundargarh regarding the grant ofcultivable waste land in lieu of acquired cultivatedland free of cost up to a maximum of 33 acres toeach recorded tenant has been proved to be falseand baseless.

IV. IMPACT OF INDUSTRIALIZATIONON THE DISPLACED ADIVASIS

After 50 years of continuous struggle, the dis-placed Adivasis of Sundargarh Scheduled Districtnever got any distributive justice in their ownhome place. With great anguish and bitter ex-perience, they used to complain that they havebeen deceived by the RSP and government autho-rities, and fraudently their ancestral lands havebeen snatched away from them, and now they

have become landless and homeless. More than70 per cent displaced persons have neitherreceived their compensation nor have they beenallotted any cultivable land for their survival.They have not been provided land for land.

A great majority of displaced persons are alsodeprived of their job opportunity in the RSP. Onthe other hand, one may get surprised to knowthat even outsiders who were non-displacedpersons have been employed by the RSPauthorities after producing forged displacedcertificates. In spite of continuous complaints, thegovernment as well as RSP authorities are - tilldate - not taking any action against those personswho have been employed in the RSP on the basisof their fake displaced certificates. The OrissaGovernment has not made any comprehensive R& R policy for the solution of the man madeproblems.

It is sad to mention here that what the RSPauthorities have furnished as scheme-wise detailsregarding the projects/activities under KfW SplitInterest Accrual Funds (which have started in2000 AD) relating to the development in the peri-pheral areas of RSP, proved to be false. Thedisplaced persons do not accept this false reportof the RSP authorities. The people living in theR.S. colonies have not benefited out of peripheraldevelopment funds in the passage of last 50 yearsof time. It is the major opinion of the displacedpersons that the said KfW funds have beenmisutilized and diverted for the beautification ofthe Rourkela Township, Indira Gandhi Park,construction of private buildings, and funds havebeen channelised for the development outside ofthe district of Sundargarh.

Now RSP Township enjoys the status of “FIRSTINDUSTRIAL TOWNSHIP” in the country witheffect from 15th April, 1995, as declared byHon’ble Governor of Orissa. The Steel Townshipis well planned with all civic amenities likemotorable roads, drainage, sewerage system,parks, schools, gardens, playgrounds, clubs,recreation centres, hospitals & health centres,other modern amenities such as shops, marketcomplexes, water supply system, electric dis-tribution system, auditoriums, social homes,community centres, etc., to appease the needs ofthe outsiders. This can be named as the lopsideddevelopment activities of the RSP authorities. Thedisplaced persons have never enjoyed such basicamenities in their respective R.S. colonies. Theyhave been totally neglected from the very outsetof the establishment of the Steel Plant.

- 38 -


Recently, the Government of Orissa, RevenueDepartment, has reconstituted the RehabilitationAdvisory Committee / Periphery DevelopmentCommittee, vide No. 6234-REH 28 / 2005- Rdate.20th February, 2006. The RAC/ PDPCommittee members are as follows:-1. R.D.C. North Division, Sambalpur - Chairman2. Collector, Sundargarh - Member3. Superintendent of Police, RKL - Member4. Managing Director, RSP - Member5. M.P. of Sundargarh District - Member6. All sitting MLAs of Sundargarh District -

Members7. Deputy G.M Town Service - Member8. A.D.M., Rourkela - Convener MemberThe plan, programme and functions of the abovecommittee are not known to the general publicnor to the affected displaced persons. The dis-placed persons don’t even know that the RAC/PDP Committee has any plan for the developmentof their R.S. colonies.

It is the complaint of the displaced persons thatso far none of the concerned authorities havevisited the R.S. colonies of RSP and Mandira DamProject. No officer from Peripheral DevelopmentOffice has ever visited Gahami, Champa Jharan,(Jhirpani), Ulanda Jharan, Jhandapahar, Amgaon,Lachhada, Kendro, Silikata, Hathidharsa, etc., andassessed the living conditions of the displacedAdivasis in these R.S. colonies.

V. CONCLUSIONThe living conditions of all the displaced personsare pathetic, miserable, and they all are living sub-human life. They have been deprived of theirfundamental right under Article 21 of the Con-stitution of India , i.e. the Right to Livelihood. So,unless and until the government authorities andRSP authorities make a survey to all the R.S.colonies of RSP and Mandira Dam Project andtake appropriate measures for the allround deve-lopment of these areas, it is humanely speakingnot possible to give any distributive justice tothese victims even after the lapse of half a century.

Panchsheel for Tribal Development“We cannot allow to drift into tribal areas... today that is not possible or desirable. Atthe same time we should avoid over-ad-

ministering these areas and particularlysending too many outsiders into tribalterritory.It is between too extreme positions that wehave to function development in variousways. There has to be such as communica-tion, medical facilities, education and betteragriculture. These avenues of developmentshould, however, be pursued within thebroad frame work of the following :-(1) People should develop their own geniusand we should avoid imposing anything,even language, religion and customarytradition on them, i.e on indigenous people.(2) A tribal right to land and forests shouldbe respected by all means.(3) We should try to train and build up ateam of their own people to do the work ofadministration and development. Sometechnical personnel from outside will nodoubt be needed especially in the begin-ning. But we should avoid, by all means,too many outsiders into tribal territory.(4) We should not overadminister theseareas or overwhelm them with a multi-plicity of schemes. We should rather workthrough and not in rivalry to their ownsocial and cultural institutions. We non-tribals should protect, promote and pre-serve their entity and identity.(5) We should judge results in the spirit ofIndian nationalism, not by statistics, or theamount of money, but by quality of humancharacter that evolved.”

(From “Tribal Souvenir” of the book “A philo-sophy for N.E.F.A” by Dr Verrier Elwin publishedby Bharatiya Adimjati Seva Sangha. N. Delhi-1)

The Government of Orissa is hell-bent in carryingout genocidal measures to decimate the tribals inthe disguise of the development project for good.This is nothing but undemocratic, illegal unconsti-tutional and anti-national. In time, so to speak,Government of Orissa is following its own law,disregarding the Constitution of India, silently,invisibly, intriguingly and menacingly, and isthreatening the tribal entity and identity. AllScheduled Areas should be administered inaccordance with the provisions of the Con-stitution of India for the PEACE and GOODGOVERNMENT of the inhabitants.


- 39 -

I. We need food, not steel!We need development of our land, not factories!!Tribal and indigenous people are self-sufficientin producing food grains for their livelihood.Anything that grows on land is the social, culturaland economic backbone of the local people.ArcelorMittal wants to set up a steel plant inKhunti and Gumla by demolishing dozens ofvillages. Villagers have raised the slogan “We willneither loose our lives nor will give a single inchof land”.

As per officials from Torpa, Kamdara, Raniya andKarra, ArcelorMittal has identified the followingvillages:In Karra Subdivision, District Khunti:

Jamhar, Hudma Toli, Bhusoor, Urikel, Rahed-gadha, Churle, Bikwadag, Jojodag, Bakaspur,Lappa, Regre.

In Torpa Subdivision, District Khunti:Kulda, Kanakloya, Aama, Chukru, Urmi, Satal,Karoda, Marcha, Turigadha, Urikel, Banabira,Jimlong, Kherkai, Raikera.

In Rania Subdivision, District Khunti:Digri, Loagadha, Manhatu, Garai, Token,Kulai, Khatanga.

In Kamdara Subdivision, District Gumla:Kisni, Bongda, Sarita, Titihi, Pakra, Bamhandi,Turundu, Poje, Kondkera, Kuda, Suruhu, Kita-pidi, Pakut, Pokla, Sonmer, Chatakpur, Ram-toliya, Kenaloya, Bamhadi.

Mittal’s Company needs 12,000 hectares of land.The company is installing a plant of 12 milliontons capacity. It will also establish a 2,500 MWpower plant and a Special Economic Zone (SEZ).The rivers in this area are Koyal, Karo, Chhataand many small water resources. The Companyhas been allotted 500 acres and 1,086 acres of landin Kapmapda for iron ore. The Koyal belt has alsobeen handed over for coal. The Company isinvesting capital in major areas which itself speaksof the devastation that will be caused to people,rivers and forests:1. Koyal block area of forestland to be acquired

is undeclared.2. Iron Ore: 1586 acre of land is already allotted,

rest in waiting.

3. Construction of canals and dams: undeclared.4. For plant: 12,000 hectares land is needed, but

as per MoU, the company needs 25,000 acresof land (with equals to 10,177 hectares).

5. Land required for railway line.6. Land required for urbanization.7. Land required for associated factories.

The local people are raising questions about thedisplacement of hundreds and thousands ofpeople, whereas the company is denying this. TheHindi daily “Hindustan”, in its August 22, 2008issue, says that the company’s CEO VijayBhatnagar claims the Jharkhand plant is theworld’s largest plant. He said that, “our plantwould be as large as HEC, Bokaro, Tata andRourkela combined.” He has said that this willbe a model plant.

We have vowed that we will not hand over evenan inch of our ancestral land to the company. Wehave raised the slogan, “Neither we give lives,nor land. We need food, not steel. We needdevelopment of our land, not factories.”

II. Whom is this government trying to fool:Local people or the Company?

Jharkhand Government is selling out the com-munity resources of ten villages in Kamdara Subdivision of District Gumla having 1025 acres ofland. This is a clear repression of tribal indigenouspeople of this area. The CNT law is applicablehere, which means that all the land in these vil-lages is a community property. This is stated inKhatiyan part two. But the Government is unani-mously identifying this land as the governmentproperty for selling it to Mittal. This is a violationof Chhotanagpur Kashtkari Law. All these plotsvary in size, some are 5-20 decimals and aresituated apart, having water resources and moun-tains. The Government is asking for an amountof Rs. 15,48,71,550/- for this land. It is evident thatthe Government has the responsibility to protectthese lands in the interest of the villagers whohave natural control over it.

Since people are opposed to selling land to Mittal,the administration is selling off community

The Proposed Mittal Steel Plant in Jharkhand

Dayamani Barla,Convenor, Adivasi Moolvasi Astitva Raksha Manch, Ranchi, Jharkhand

(Mrs. Dayamani Barla gave a free speech on the basis of a paper which she had read out at the Rourkela Conference inBerlin on 31 October 2009 (http://www.adivasi-koordination.de/adivasi_english/documents.htm : Dayamani Barla)

- 40 -


resources like roads, rivers and culverts. Forexample, a village has a total land area of 1740.80acres out of which 111.05 acre is being identifiedfor sale. This is the height of repression! Whenthe government officials were asked whether itis possible to set up industries on this land, theydenied. So the question arises, whom is thisgovernment trying to fool: Local people or thecompany?

The people inhabit the land that the Governmenthas declared its own. Farmers plough over it andit is used for grazing. This land has been awardedduring Bhoodan (land redistribution campaign)to marginalised peasants and they have validcertificates for this. They are also paying taxes.Kamdara officials were asked as to who hasprepared the list of plots being sold out to Mittal?They answered that the Company itself hasprovided this. It is to be noted that the last landsurvey was done in 1932! At that time, most ofthe land was uninhabited. It is clear that thepopulation has risen in the last 77 years and thesepeople have only inhabited the villages whichwere once uninhabited. The most striking featureis the unaccountability of the state administration.They are playing in the hands of the Companyofficials. If this had not been so, it would havefirst verified the list provided by the Company.This proves that both are ready to evict thevillagers out of their heritage. The Governmentis working as the Company’s agent.

The district administration, on the one hand,arranges Gram Sabha meetings on 16th of everymonth in Gumla District; but at the same time isinvolved in repression of the people. If Arce-lorMittal has any morals, it must rethink on therepression of the people. The Government istrying to pave the way for Company’s entry intothe villages, which is the height of inhumanity.The plots identified lie in between the homes ofpeasants. Obviously, they will not give their land,then how will the company set up plant on theseplots?

In order to bring justice to the tribal indigenouspeople, it is imperative to understand the geo-graphical, economic, social, cultural conditions ofthese villages. The ten villages identified for landtransfer have a total land area of about 12,000acres among which farmland is 10,032.50 acres,forestland 1.005.87 acres and irrigated land is433.80 acres.

The land identified for setting up industry inKamdara is not less than 20-25 acres. The Mittal

Company, facing the wrath of world economicrecession, is now ready to cut down the projectsize. It is talking of 6MTY production in the firstphase whereas it was decided to produce 12MTYearlier. People are aware of the cunningness ofthe company officials. The tribal-indigenouspeople have decided not to hand over even asingle inch of land to the company.

Our demands1. Respect the rights of Gram Sabha (village

general body). Stop the land sale to Mittal.2. Assure the rights given in Section 46 of

Chhotanagpur Kashtkari Law 1908.3. We will not hand over even a single inch of

land to the company.4. Stop displacement of tribal indigenous people.5. Assure the water of Koyal, Karo and Chhhata

rivers for irrigation.6. Mittal or any company will not be tolerated as

the proprietor of the village.

III. Mittal says: We are doing CSRin this area since last four years,so no point in going away…But outsiders are not allowed into thevillage without prior permissionof Gram Sabha

It is a historical fact that our ancestors possessedthis land after fighting fierce pythons and bears,so why should we leave this land? Mittal is tryingto grab the peasant’s land by hook or by crook.He is trying to lure villagers by educational,health, employment, ITI training, nursingfacilities. It is also involved in free plantations.All this is being done to grab land from the far-mers. But people have halted all these programsin the area. People have banned the entry of anyperson opposed to the movement. They haveinstalled a board on the entry points of all villageswhich says “Outsiders are not allowed into thevillage without prior permission of the GramSabha.”

Company officials are trying to convince peopleby taking the services of some touts. They areintimidating people from the movements, pro-viding them liquor etc. They are trying to lureaway the youth and taking them to trainingprograms run by the Company.

The plantation work being done by the MittalCompany is ridiculous. This area is agriculturallysound having dozens of forests spread inthousands of acres of land. These have many fruitbearing trees and herbs. This flora-fauna hashelped in balancing the ecosystem of this area.


- 41 -

Mittal’s claim of doing plantation in the area isridiculous. He is just devastating this land of therich heritage. They have done plantations in twoschools of Kamdara of trees namely Siris, Mango,Ashok etc. and some herbs. It has been done inDAV School premises of Jamhar, Karra Subdivi-sion. These plants are useless in nature. Evengoats do not consume these plants. All theseplants bear a company board. Our organizationhas asked for clarification from the schoolmanagement whether they support the companyor the people.

The Company has given a contract to Ranchi Trustfor distribution of medicines in this area. Whenthe people came to know about this, they stoppedthe entry of trust officials in the villages. Oncethe Trust vehicle was seen on the Torpa roadentering Kamdara, people stopped the vehicleand asked whether they have taken permissionfor entry. They denied, after which a bond wasexecuted and signed by them stating that theywill not repeat this without prior permission.When the vehicle number was asked, they saidthat this vehicle is without a number. Now it isnot possible for any trust vehicle to enter into thevillage.

The Hindi daily “Prabhat Khabar” had publisheda story regarding a school run by Mittal Companyin Marcha of Torpa Subdivision. This school was

run in the house of Kishun Sahoo. When ourorganization inquired Sahoo, he refused it. It wasfound that the school was being run behind closeddoors, and whenever anyone visits the place, theguard says that there is no one inside. If theCompany is running a school, why is it behindclosed doors?

The same question arises regarding the trust’svehicle, which does not bear any number, whichis illegal. It may be possible that the Companymust have been sending some anti-social elementsin these vehicles to intimidate the villagers. Ourorganization demands a high level inquiry intothese acts as all the CSR works claimed by theCompany are suspicious and dubious...

Mittal is providing security training through anNGO to 50 girls under CSR. The company hasconspired to destroy the state’s youth by theseacts. These youngsters belong to standard 8th to10th pass. The question arises as to what kind ofemployment will be given to these youngsters?

Obviously, these all are done just to misguide theyoung population. People are aware that theCompany is paying salaries to some people, whoare working to weaken the protest against Mittal.It is boosting anti-social elements in the society. Ithas crossed all human norms in destroying thelives of tribal and farmers.

- 42 -


The Rengali Dam Project in Deogarh District, Orissa- Another desaster in development

Ajay Kumar MahantaRourkela

(Edited from an English summary note given by the author)

Deogarh DistrictThe District comprises a total land area 2,940sq.kms, divided into three Community Develop-ment Blocks with 60 Gram Panchayat. It has 867inhabited villages with a total population of2,74,095 (in 2001). The growth rate is at 17.02 percent. There are Displaced People of Hirakud Dam,Rengali Dam, Rourkela Steel Plant living in theDistrict.

The extent of displacement in Orissabetween 1951 to 1995- Hydro-electric multi-purpose projects have

displaced 3,25,000 people of which only 27.69percent have been rehabilitated.

- Industrial projects have displaced 71,794people of which only 27,300 or 38.03 per centhave been rehabilitated.

- Mining projects have displaced around1,00,000 people of which almost 60 per centpeople have been rehabilitated.

- Due to declaration of sanctuary around 50,000people have been displaced of which only15,540 or 31.08 per cent are rehabilited.

In total, these mega-projects under the aegis ofplanned development during a period of four andhalf decades have displaced around 5,46,794people of which only 35.27 per cent or about1,29,840 people have been rehabilited.

Displacement in Rengali Dam areaFor the Displaced Persons of Rengali Dam theGovernment of Orissa issued a press note outlin-ing the facilities to be given to the oustees. Theyare, viz.:- Planning proper rehabilitation before the sub-

mergence.- Provision of compensation both in cash and

kind, i.e. land both for agriculture and home-stead.

- Development of village infrastructure at therehabilitation sites.

- Compensation for the mango trees.

- Surcharge payment at the rate of 15 per cent.The construction of Rengali Dam displaced 265villages of Deogarh and Angul Districts, of which116 are reported as fully submerged and the rest149 are partly submerged. Of these affectedvillages, 194 are coming under the DeogarhSubdivision under the then Sambalpur District(now Deogarh District), 71 are from the PallaharaSubdivision (now Angul District). Thus the Damhas caused an involuntary displacement of 10,872people who had to be rehabilitated either on theirown or in settlement colonies and in clusters setup for the purpose.

Issues of Rengali Dam Displaced Persons- Rengali Multi-Purpose Dam Project, built on

the river Brahmani, benefits the districts ofDhenkanal (old), Cuttack and Keonjhar. Theproject has displaced 10,872 people from 265villages of Deogarh and Angul Districts,among which 15.73 per cent are SC, 10.55 percent are ST, and 73.72 per cent are belongingto other caste groups.

- 69.80 per cent of the oustee households wereliving primarily on agriculture at their villagesin the submerged areas. This has reduced to21.03 per cent. The informal sector along withthe wage labour market has expanded toaccommodate more people and providesustenance to them.

- The type of agricultural land in their displacedvillages comprised all qualities of land, andthe level of production and irrigation hadassured the minimum requirements. But nowthe Displaced Persons have been providedwith lands more or less of Ata and Mal typewhich do not assure a minimum level ofproduction.

- Around 21.38 per cent of the households havesold out their low quality agricultural landswhich were stony, marshy and of laterite typeand hardly found suitable for agriculturalpurposes.


- 43 -

- The status of indebtedness of the DisplacedPersons shows that 57 per cent of the house-holds had taken loans from informal sourcesand 26 per cent of the households had takenloans from both sources, basically to meet theirexigency requirements.

- Around 31.87 per cent of the oustee house-holds with loans from informal sources havemortgaged their land.

- Till date, some of the land is not identified bythe Displaced Persons, and so they took leasedpatta on which they are tilling.

- The democratic institutions established in thename of Panchayat Raj (PRI) ignored the im-portance of the traditional leadership struc-ture.

- The breakdown of patron client relationshipforced the Displaced Persons to depend on out-

side forces to meet the contingency needs inthe socio-economic frontiers of their life.

- Sample surveys reflect that 17.9 per cent wereunmarried, 74.4per cent were married, 7.7 percent account for both widow and widower.

- Sample surveys reflect that the displacementencouraged the nuclear form of family andindividualistic approach to social living, i.e. 61per cent.

- 38 per cent are illiterate, 22 per cent are justnominally literate.

- The average land holding of the ousteehouseholds was ranging from 2 to 5 acres, 6.86per cent of the households do not have anyland, and they had sold their land to meet theirspecial expenses like children’s marriage andsocial ceremonies, etc.

- 44 -


Selected Press Reports on the Conference

(Translated from Oriya and Hindi by Sunil Kumar Jojo)

SAMBAD, ROURKELA (ORIYA)8TH March 2010

Two–day Convention of Displaced Persons ofR.S.P. Rourkela and Mandira Dam - N.G.O. ofGermany at Rourkela helped them get theirlegitimate rights

Rourkela 7/3 –The displaced persons, mostly Adibasis, wereuprooted from their hearth and home mercilessly50 years ago. About 2,500 families of 67 mauzashave been displaced. At that time, it was assured that land for land, house for house, proper com-pensation for the loss of land and employment inSAIL R.S.P. Rourkela for every family of a son anddaughter of a recorded tenant wold be given. Butthe opportunities have not reached to the manydisplaced families. Six associations of the dis-placed persons assembled together to get theirlegitimate rights. An N.G.O. of Germany havealso joined their hands to put the problems beforethe Government of Orissa and the public.

Rt. Rev. Bishop John Barwa inaugurated theConvention on 06.03.2010, Fr. Stan Swamy ofRanchi (Jharkhand) and Dr. G.B. Nath of JaldaGandhi College expressed their opinion on thisoccasion. In the year 1993 N.G.O. Adibasi Ko-ordination Committee was formed in Germanyfor the welfare of the displaced person of R.S.P.Rourkela. Seven members of its committee attend-ed the Convention. They were Mr. Johannes La-ping and Mr. James Albert, advisor on ethnic andreligious minorities in India. Two members ofAdibasi Koordination Committee in Germanyelaborated about the survey of R.S. Colonieswhich was conducted by them. They also collect-ed the personal opinion of the displaced persons.Besides this, all the representatives discussed thematter and expressed their personal opinionamong themselves.

On the second day of the Convention, Rev. Fr.

Celestine Xaxa expressed his views on theacquisition of land for R.S.P. Rourkela and Man-dira Dam. Smt Dayamani Barla of Ranchi and Mr.Ajay Mahanta of Rourkela expressed their viewson the displacement matter. Hindustan Steel Plantnow renamed R.S.P. Rourkela, the first state-owned Steel Plant was established by the indus-trial German corporations in the year 1956. In lateryears, the German Government provided tech-nical knowhow and financial assistance. The suc-cess of Rourkela Project has got place in the booksof school children in Germany. However, thou-sands and thousands of Adibasis were uprootedfrom their hearth and home for this great project.Due to this magnificent project they have beenruined for good, and their sufferings increasedand multiplied unlimited, unheard of and beyondimagination of the human mind. Even today theyare victims of negligence and partial outlook.These views have been expressed with a heavyheart in the two-day Convention at Nav Jagriti,Kalunga.

On the one hand, non-displaced persons havebeen employed in SAIL R.S.P. Rourkela, byproducing fake documents, and on the otherhand, bonafide displaced persons could not beidentified by the State Administration. 14,000acres of lands of the acquired land have been de-clared surplus, but the same land has not beenreturned to the original tenants. Resettlementcolonies have been completely neglected by theState Government as well as the R.S.P. Rourkelaand nobody has given any attention to thesecolonies. These colonies have been deprived ofall the basic amenities of life even till today.

This Convention was organized by RourkelaLocal Displaced Persons Association, RegionalProtection Committee, Mandira Dam DisplacedPersons Association, Regional Protection Samiti,Sundargarh Zilla Displaced Persons Parishad,and Adibasi Ko-ordination in Germany for thedisplaced persons.


- 45 -

DAINIK JAGARAN, ROURKELA (HINDI)8TH March. 2010

Problems of Displaced Persons will be madeknown to the Govt. of Germany

Rourkela, Reporter of Rourkela Jagaran:-It was discussed that basic amenities of life have not been provided to the displaced persons ofR.S.P. Rourkela, Mandira Dam and BondamundaMarshalling Yard. Funds of German Develop-ment Bank, K.F.W., have not been utilized for thewelfare of the displaced persons. The repre-sentative of Adibasi Koordination Committee inGermany, Mr. Johannes Laping assured that hewould inform the Govt of Germany and theofficials of the concerned department for the mis-utilization of the said funds.

The problems of the displaced persons werediscussed widely and thoroughly and theirpresent positions were made known to the sevenmembers of Germany. Mr. Bijay Kumar Sorengpresided over the Convention which was jointlyorganized by Rourkela Local Displaced PersonsAssociation, Mandira Dam Displaced PersonsAssociation, Regional Protection Committee,Bondamunda, Sundargarh Displaced PersonsParishad, N.G.O. ASHRA and Adibasi Koordina-tion Committee in Germany.

The problems of the displaced persons of diffe-rent resettlement colonies at different times werealso discussed. It was mainly demanded that14,000 acres of surplus land which was acquiredfor R.S.P. Rourkela should be returned to the original tenants. Besides this, it was demandedthat basic amenities of life, such as land for land,house for house, compensation for the loss, andemployment be given to the displaced personssettled at R.S. Colonies. It was further demandedthat non-displaced persons and non-tribals whoare working in R.S.P. Rourkela by producingforged documents should be pin-pointed and beremoved from the services of the company.

The representative of Adibasi Koordination Com-mittee in Germany, Mr. Johannes Laping, dis-cussed broadly the situation of the displacedpersons. Rev. Fr. Celestine Xaxa , Mr. SudarshamEkka, Mr. Peter Minz and Mr. Anand Lakraplaced their points before this meeting. It wascoordinated by Mr. Sunil Kumar Jojo.

DHARITRI, ROURKELA (ORIYA)9 March, 2010

Convention of Displaced Persons of R.S.P. Rour-kela and Mandira Dam

Rourkela Office 8/3.25,000 people had been displaced from 66 mauzasfor the construction of Rourkela Steel Plant andMandira Dam. At that time it was agreed andassured that land for land, house for house andcompensation for the loss would be given andservice for one member of a son’s/daughter’sfamily of a recorded tenant would be offered. 50years have already elapsed, but the displacedpersons have been deprived of all the benefits,even till date. Rourkela Local Displaced PersonsAssociation, Regional Surakhya Committee,Mandira Dam Displaced Persons Association,Regional Surakhya Samiti, Sundargarh DisplacedPersons Committee and Adivasi CoordinationSociety for Displaced Persons, etc. assembled together and put forward their demands to theGovt of Orissa and SAIL R.S.P., Rourkela.

This Convention was inaugurated by Rt. Rev.Bishop John Barwa on 07-03-2010 at KalungaJagriti Parishad. Rev. Fr. Stan Swamy of Ranchiand Dr. G.B. Nath of Jalda Gandhi College deliver-ed their lectures on this occasion. Seven membersof NGO Adibasi Koordination in Germany (start-ed in 1993) have also taken part in the Conventionof the displaced persons of Rourkela. Thoseeminent persons included namely JohannesLaping and James Albert, advisor on minoritiesin India. All of them expressed their views on thedisplaced person.

On the second day, two out of them stressed onthe rehabilitation and survey of R.S. Coloniesconducted by Adibasi Koordination Committee.Rev. Fr. Celestine Xaxa delivered his lecture onland acquisition at Rourkela and Mandira Dam.Mrs. Damayanti Barla of Ranchi and Mr. AjayMahanta of Rourkela expressed their view pointson different subjects. It has been alleged thatbonafide displaced persons are deprived of theservice. On the other hand, non-displaced personsare getting service by producing false and fakedocuments. 14,000 acres of land have been de-clared surplus, but the Govt. of Orissa is reluc-tant to return the said land to the original tenants.That means, nobody is thinking for the resettle-ment of the displaced persons. It was also allegedthat the displaced persons were deprived of theirfundamental rights.

- 46 -


SENIOR INDIA (HINDI) 31 August 2010

Unfulfilled promise: No hope for the displaced

A report by Satish Sharma

In 2008 the Government of India announced awhopping grant of ten thousand crore rupees toIndia’s first integrated steel plant established inRourkela, in the state of Orissa, towards moder-nization of the plant while it geared up to celeb-rate the golden jubilee of its birth. It broughtsmiles to those associated with the steel plantdirectly or indirectly. However not all were happy.The third young generation of the displacedpeople expressed their anger, as they still awaitthe promises made to be fulfilled.

The first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawahar-lal Nehru, termed it as the “Temple of Develop-ment”, and the grandfathers of the younggeneration gave up their ancestral land for theestablishment of the steel plant. How did thisbenefit those who made a great sacrifice? TheAdivasi youth feel most neglected, cheated andhave only this question in mind “Is this the treatfor our sacrifice”?

There are several organizations working for therightful claims of the displaced people. On the 6-7 of March, 2010, seven organizations came underone platform for a Seminar to evaluate the stateof affairs of the displaced people and the impacton the local Adivasis. The Rourkela Steel Plant(RSP) has been established with support from theGerman Government and their technical know-how. A seven member delegation from an NGOhad been present during this Seminar. Previouslythis NGO has been involved in research of theimpact on socio-economic and cultural life of thedisplaced Adivasis as an aftermath of the estab-lishment of the plant. As the members of the NGOpresented their findings during the seminar, itwas clear that displaced Adivasis have not bene-fited from Rourkela Steel Plant, instead theirsituation has worsened.

The fact that the young generation continue theirstruggle to this day to claim their rights and thepromises made to their grandparents makesobvious the failure of the RSP with regard toinclusive development. All the displaced peoplepresent in the seminar lamented that RSP has notbenefited them. Organized at Nav Jagriti Kalun-ga, this two day Seminar was the united effort ofsix local organizations namely; Local Displaced

Manch (LDM), Anchalik Suraksha Samiti (ASS),Mandira Dam Displaced Sangh (MDDS),Sundargarh District Displaced Parishad (SDDP),Adivasi Coordination Society for DisplacedPersons (ACSDP), Adivasis for Social and HumanRights Action (ASHRA) along with two organi-zations from Germany: Adivasi Coordination ofGermany (ACG) and Society for ThreatenedPeoples (STP).

Martina Claus and Sebastian Hartig, both mem-bers of ACG spent a number of days with thedisplaced people in their habitations to under-stand the present ground realities daily faced bythe Adivasis. A visit to 10 rehabilitation centresmade clear to them the depressed conditions inwhich people find themselves. Displaced personsvehemently presented the consequences of theforceful displacement. Their life was happy priorto the displacement. It has worsened in the post-displacement phase. Being illiterate and inex-perienced, people could not have imagined thekind of troublesome situation they would face inthe near future. Adivasis are simple folks and theyjust believed the officials who made emptypromises. The majority of them even said thatthey were displaced without prior notice andforcefully transported to far away places in jungleareas, so that they could not organize themselveswell to oppose the move. Rehabilitation centreswere not provided with any basic amenities, landswere not cultivable, roads did not exist, and therewas no drinking water. The promise “land forland” and with equal quality was never fulfilled;worse, people did not receive patta or ownershiptitles of the land given as compensation even afterhalf century has passed. Some lands are still inthe control of the Forest Department. The resear-chers were told that not a single official ever madea visit to them till today.

Giving testimony, a displaced from the MandiraDam project, Mr. Habil Lomga, told the gatheringthat in the year 1958 he had been forcefully evictedfrom his home and dumped in the rehabilitationcentre in Lachhada that did not have any facilitiesfor living. No arrangements were made for thetransportation of the animals to the new site. Laterthey had to go back on foot and take their domes-tic animals. People had to walk five kilometers tofetch drinking water from a dirty pond. Thechildren had no education facilities. Healthservices were totally absent. All the other dis-placed also testified to the fact that their life hadbecome much worse now than at their previoushabitation.


- 47 -

It is significant to note that the Steel Plant and theMandira Dam constructed to supply water to RSP,displaced 63 villages with 2,976 families and 1,193families in Mandira areas, respectively. Land forland, all living facilities at the rehabilitationcentres, and a job for every family were the pro-mises made to the displaced. They were givenland to construct houses in Jhirpani, Bonda-munda, Jalda, Laing Colony, etc. However theywere given agricultural land not fit for cultivation,in faraway jungle areas upto 40 kilometers fromRSP like Khuntgaon, Amgaon, Lachhda, Kendro,Silikata, Gohami, Tainser, Hathidharsa, Banki-bahal, Jaidega, Jhandapahad, Kadlibahal, Ulanda-jhadan, Partagutu, Kenduberni, and so forth.

Now it is over 50 years, but the new locations havenot developed and still lack basic amenities. TheDirector of ASHRA and human rights activist Fr.Celestine Xaxa said that in all of the rehabilitationcentres the living conditions have become muchworse than before. Just because they are Adivasis,they got treated in such a way? It was a wellplanned move to keep them in faraway places andin small numbers to eliminate probabilities ofprotests and unified movements.

As result of this, till this day the third generationis struggling to get a job in the RSP as promised.The RSP authorities have claimed that they havegiven jobs to 6137 people which is been challen-ged by the Local Displaced Association. Whenthe list of the people given jobs was demandedfrom the authorities, they could produce only2211 names. A government enquiry has made thestartling revelation that 1800 families have notbeen given jobs.

There have been demands and movements fromtime to time. A major one among these is the 32Displaced Villages Movement which presentedits five demands in 2004. When their demandswere not met they agitated and in 2006 they

blocked the main railway route from Mumbai toHowrah for over 50 hours. A worried adminis-tration gave a written assurance that all theirdemands would be met. Under this agreement aspecial cell was constituted and it started to assesscandidates. However, the speed with which thisis going on puts a big question mark on theintention of the RSP authorities. There have beencases where non-displaced people have beengiven jobs. Mr. Ramchandra Sahoo, the Presidentof the Local Displaced Association, said that suchways of working of RSP will not ensure a job forthe displaced candidates even till the fifth gene-ration. He further added that RSP has only bene-fited the outsiders. At the least, the unutilizedlands must be returned to the original owners.Instead the administration is selling these landsto the outsiders in very high prices.

Johannes Laping from Germany told in the Semi-nar that RSP is a big success story in Germany.But the German government is not aware of theground realities and the impact on the displacedpeople. The truth is that the majority of thedisplaced have no participation in the economicdevelopment process. Social activists havecondemned RSP and Mandira dam as two bigdestroyers of the Adivasi culture. Adivasi Coordi-nation of Germany has been involved in the ex-ploratory process to understand the situation ofthe displaced and making an effort for social,cultural and political development. In this regardtwo seminars have been organized in Germanyin 2006 and 2009 at Bonn and Berlin respectivelyto create public awareness. The promises of theRSP are still unfulfilled. The work will be overonly on the day when the displaced themselveswill say all their rights have been met and stepshave been ensured to take their demands to alogical conclusion. He assured that he will con-tinue to work both in Germany and in India toget the public support to fulfil the rights of thedisplaced.

- 48 -


Epilogue

The Struggle Continues

As we stated already in the press release at thetime of the Conference (printed as the Preface ofthis publication): The Displaced Persons’ Con-ference at Kalunga has been a historic event. Pro-bably for the first time during their struggle, dele-gates from a great number of resettlement colo-nies and from all the affected areas - Adivasis aswell as Non-Adivasis, old and young, from firstgeneration to present generation - had come to-gether.

And they were surprised to see half a dozen per-sons who had come all the way from Germany assupporters of their cause. This was heart-warmingon both sides. For the Displaced Persons it wasimportant to see with their own eyes that Germancivil society is taking an active role in the Rourkelastruggle for justice and human rights, whereasthe official German institutions remained inactiveall the years and had even rejected the invitationto this Conference. - For the German participantsit was important to see - on top of all previouscontacts, research and support - that the struggleat Rourkela is very much alive and will gathermomentum from the newly forged unity at theinstance of this Conference.

In Rourkela and the resettlement colonies, thelocal organisations of Displaced Persons and theirsupporters will continue discussions and followup on the complaints and demands put forwardin the Conference and strategize accordingly.

In Germany, lobby work with the German institu-tions and authorities, like KfW, the Ministry forDevelopment Cooperation, and the companies -who were or still are business partners of RSP -will be continued. They will be confronted againand again with the mal-developments in Rour-kela. THEY HAVE TO ACKNOWLEDGE at leasta co-responsibility for putting these things right.So far, they have denied any responsibility andblamed it on the Indian authorities. But: KfWinitiated and sanctioned funds for a so-called Peri-phery Development Programme (PDP). However,the amount of funds made available for this PDP,its orientation, functioning and monitoring arekept as a secret both by RSP and KfW. Apparentlythe peripheral development under this pro-

gramme is very little geared towards the Dis-placed Persons (cf. Rourkela and after - 50 years ofindustrial development and social responsibility inIndo-German Cooperation, sarini Occ. Papers, No.5). - Re-orienting this PDP towards the needs of theDisplaced Persons would be a practical step, easyenough and a symbolic gesture at the same time. Itwould not even require additional funds but onlyfollowing the principles of equity and justice forthe Displaced Persons. And it would have to benegotiated with a firm commitment - by the Ger-man and the Indian authorities - to the affectedpeople more than 50 years after their troublesbegan.

Friendship and solidarity with the Displaced Per-sons in their struggle for justice at Rourkela willcontinue. A visible form of support is this pub-lication, which is by now the third in a row (cf.above, page 2). More may follow...

Already in the first two publications, we havedwelt extensively on legal aspects. The same hasagain been covered in several presentations of thisConference. And it will be one of the mainworking areas in the future also.

On the AnnexureIn 1996, a Writ Petition was dismissed by the Sup-reme Court of India (cf. Adivasis of Rourkela,sarini Occ. Papers, No. 4). Now during the pre-paration phase of this Conference, a Writ Petitionhad been submitted to the High Court of Orissa,Cuttack, challenging the legal basis of the landacquisition for RSP and the Mandira Dam in the1950s. On 9th July 2010, this Writ Petition was alsodismissed. We are printing this Judgment in fac-simile as an Annexure to the Conference Pro-ceedings, for convenient reference by anybody whois interested (cf. following pages A 1 to A 9).

In fact, a different judgment could not have beenexpected, because the Petition was shaking at thevery roots of the Rourkela project and would do sowith most other industrial projects of the past,present and future. So we have to expose the waysthe State and the Judiciary are responding andreacting on the laws. And we have to study theoptions of legal struggle very carefully.

sarini Occasional Papers, No. 7 50 Years and More Struggle for Justice at Rourkela

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

- A 1 -


___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

- A 2 -


___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

- A 3 -


___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

- A 4 -


___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

- A 5 -


___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

- A 6 -


___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

- A 7 -


___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

- A 8 -


___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

- A 9 -

- 44 -

sarini Occasional Papers, No. 5Rourkela and after

Adivasi-Koordination in Germany (reg. soc.)

Adivasi-Koordination is a network of NGOs and individuals engaged in human rights anddevelopment work. Since its inception in 1993 - the International Year of the Indigenous Peoples- the main thrust of Adivasi-Koordination’s activities has been:- to support the Adivasi in their struggle for survival and for their human rights

(e.g. participation in protest campaigns);- to document recent developments in the political, social and cultural context,

with special focus on human rights violations;- to provide information to a wider audience through publications, seminars and other

means;- to support Adivasi delegates in their contacts with funding agencies, governments

and international organisations;- to be in dialogue with Adivasi organisations and supporters in India.Other activities of Adivasi-Koordination are:- to publish an Adivasi Newsletter (in German, 2-3 issues per year);- to build up an archive of audio-visual media (tapes, slides, videos, films);- to build up a newspaper clippings archive and service.

Solidarity Action Research & Information Network International(sarini)

Towards a non-violent & non-oppressive society

sarini is a word from Sanskrit language. It means “the one that moves on steadily (like acreeper)”. It is the female form.

sarini is an informal, voluntary network of like-minded people sharing in the view that thepresent political structure, social, economic and environmental conditions require a radicaltransformation, which, however, is unlikely to be achieved and wanted by those in powerand through their traditional top-down planning approach.

sarini takes on a radical bottom-up approach that is responsible to the community in everyrespect.

sarini is coordinated in a strictly non-hierarchical manner. Individuals, action groups or supportgroups sharing in the above view and intention may at any time join sarini and establishthemselves as autonomous local or regional groups. They may also opt out of sarini atany time. No sarini member or group shall ever dominate any other member or group.

sarini operates entirely through the voluntarism of her members.sarini makes relevant informations, consistent with her intentions, accessible at local, regional,

national and international levels by providing for translations into local regional, nationaland international languages.

sarini may function also in the way of a news agency, supplying informations researched and/or communicated by sarini members to news papers, journals and research journals.Multiplicity of publication is intended. Informations rejected or ignored by such mediamay be published by sarini in her own way.

sarini tries to obtain funds for carrying out her activities.sarini research projects are to be formulated, carried out and evaluated in a participatory process

of all the involved, especially the beneficiaries.sarini will be accountable to funding agencies only through the voice of the beneficiaries of

sarini engagements, and that, too, in a non-formalized manner.

sarini has been functioning already in many ways through individual contacts, and she willcontinue to do so. Yet, for her further growth and spreading, communications beyond sarinimay be attached with this leaflet. So any recipient of such communications will get the idea,and communicating further automatically helps in expanding sarini without any obligations.

Secretariat:Dr. Theodor RathgeberJugendheimstr. 10D-34132 Kassel, GermanyPhone ++49-561-47597800Fax ++49-561-47597801email [email protected]

www.Adivasi-Koordination.de

Research & Documentation:sarini, c/o Johannes LapingChristophstr. 31D-69214 Eppelheim, GermanyPhone ++49-6221-766557Fax ++49-6221-766559email [email protected]

50 Years and More Struggle for Justice at Rourkela - Adivasi ...

Documents

Transcript of 50 Years and More Struggle for Justice at Rourkela - Adivasi ...