Dear friends Pasting below the declaration of people's movements and organisations against displacement which came out of the 'People's convention against displacement' and '*dharna against displacement** *demanding a national policy and an enactment on development planning'.
Aryan **** * * *People's Statement against Displacement* *Delhi Declaration of People's Movements and Organisations, August 2007* *[**Statement of People's convention against displacement (held at Ambedkar Bhawan, New Delhi on 11th and 12th August 2007) and dharna against displacement demanding a national policy and an enactment on development planning at New Delhi's Jantar Mantar on Monday, the 13th August 2007. Organised by Sangharsh 2007, the People's Convention and Dharna was attended by more than 600 people from across the country, representing about 80 people's organisations, engaged in struggles against displacement. The Convention, while condemning UPA Government's anti-people displacement policies including SEZs and hundreds of so called developmental projects, has demanded that the UPA government do justice to its election promise of 'no displacement' and also bring in a people-friendly DEVELOPMENT PLANNING POLICY in place of the National Rehabilitation Policy, which is nothing but a justification for the ongoing displacement of millions of people. The participants at the convention shared their respective experiences about displacement ranging from rural (project based), Urban 'evictions', forest, water, coastal, militarisation caused, etc. SEZ affected people's organisations also raised their issues. Dalit and adivasi organizations from various parts of the country demanded special provisions for the socially imposed displacement]* We, the representatives of different people's movements engaged in struggles against undemocratic and inhuman displacement enforced by the Indian state for the past several years, state/demand the following: - The Land Acquisition Act, 1894 should be abolished and a new comprehensive legislation must be spelt out with (i) our development goals (as a reference) for defining public interest (ii) the planning process including options assessments and criteria for choice and (iii) the democratic structure as well as (iv) process - legal, humane - for minimum displacement and (v) just and fair rehabilitation displacement non-negotiable, except in cases of voluntary resource-sharing based development with principles, provisions and processes with democratic, decentralised administrative structure - Special Economic Zone Act should be repealed and implementation of STZ, SEZ, etc should be immediately stopped - Coastal Zone Management Notification, that aims at displacing a large number of coastal people should be withdrawn and all decisions regarding coastal management should be taken in consultation with fishworkers and other coastal peoples - There should be an emphasis on the resources belonging to people and the people's rights to statutory duties underlined in the Indian Constitution, not on the principle of eminent domain, which has created utter devastation and elimination of marginalized communities - The policy, must be a step towards minimizing the displacement and not for increasing it. The policy already on paper (prepared by a large group of activist and representatives of the development project affected) should be taken as a reference, for bringing out a consensual final policy statement for ready reference - The unit of planning a project, not only rehabilitation, should be the smallest social unit, ie: hamlet / village in the rural areas and basti (of not more than 1000 families) in the urban area. Enforcement of Article 243 of the Constitution of India to ensure people's democratic participation in national planning and economic progress. - The change in the utilization pattern of natural resources, including land, can occur without 'displacement', if it is in favour of the contributor/investor of the resource; voluntary and not without an alternative ensuring a better life/livelihood & share in the benefits. - A large majority, including adivasis, dalits, farmers and laborers require protection from 'evictions' in the present context and hence no displacement without 'prior informed consent' should be acceptable in the case of any of the affected populations - The options assessment as a part of the project planning process also can begin at the smallest unit and needs to be finalized, pre-facto to ensure the appropriate option with minimum of overhauling, socio-environmental impacts, displacement to destruction and effective, efficient and just distribution of benefits - No use of force against the project affected should be acceptable and permissible in any development project - Rehabilitation would mean social, economic and cultural alternative way of life and hence can't be attained without an alternative livelihood which needs to be land based (to be allotted as private and common property) for agriculturist populations, forest dwellers and nomadic pastoral communities affected - This policy should be for both rural (dalit and tribal) and urban populations and hence the any such draft needs a review by more than one ministry. A Consortium of ministries including Ministry for Rural Development, Ministry for Social Justice and Empowerment, Ministry for Tribal Affairs, Ministry of Water Resources, Ministry of Power, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Ministry in charge of Development of North East, Ministry for Human Resource Development, among others should be collectively taking this process forward - The earlier proposal and demand for a National Resettlement & Rehabilitation Commission seems to have been omitted from the present policy draft. The NRRC was suggested in the earlier drafts as a national level redressal mechanism and formation of it should be a part of the policy plan. The purpose behind the NRRC and that of having project level Grievance Redressal Committee should be understood as separate - The R&R Planning Committee as well as the NRRC, while differentiated in duties and mandate should form the basic implementation instruments as well as redressal mechanism, for any development project, to make sure exploring of maximum socio-economic options, no unfair and forced displacement and participatory economic progress. All this establishes the fact that there is a need for not just rehabilitation policy but a serious discourse on development paradigm. This has become necessitated not merely with displacement as a problem or a barrier to progress but since inspite of en-masse, brutal 'eviction' and pauperization imposed, the development plans are not fulfilling the basic needs of all, denying distributive justice, nor is enabling utilization of natural resources with least dangers, with unsustainable impacts. The eco-systems damaged and depleted are being heavily paid a price for, by all citizens beyond the immediately affected. These long term impacts of degradation and salinisation of land, depletion of sea fish, emptying of years, old or even non-availability of land for and of affordable housing ultimately leads to generation long repressions which are bound to cause a fervor in the society. SEZ is the peak of policies, which rule out, ignore and bulldoze a need for not just a debate but even a dialogue. Hence, we demand the UPA Government to bring in a policy of 'development planning' in the lines of the draft submitted and cleared by the National Advisory Council, headed by UPA Chairperson Smt. Sonia Gandhi. The new policy must: · minimize development induced displacement and to identify non-displacing or least displacing alternatives to achieve development objectives. · minimize the direct and indirect adverse social impacts of land use changes due to development and commercial projects, activities or policy changes (on land, shelter, livelihood, access). · In the rare cases where non-displacing alternatives are not available, to shift from the earlier practice of forced displacement to displacement by voluntary resource-sharing based development. · ensure full transparency and justice in the processes of displacement and land acquisition. · ensure that all those who are displaced are significantly better off, not just in economic terms, but also in terms of human development and security, in a reasonable time frame, and in accordance with their aspirations, than they were prior to displacement. · ensure that the displaced people and communities are respected and recognised for their resources wealth as a critical investment. They must share the benefits and be comparable with the people benefiting from that specific project or with the people who have been beneficiaries of the developmental process in general. · integrate rehabilitation concerns into the development planning and implementation process. · ensure that that special care is taken for protecting the rights, and ensuring affirmative state action for the weaker segments of society, especially members of scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, minorities, women and children and to create legal obligations on the state to ensure that they are treated with special concern and sensitivity. · Ensure that without complete integrated rehabilitation of existing oustees, no further displacement be done so that the people trust the state in its intents of making integrated rehabilitation possible and achievable · ensure that commons cannot be acquired for any purposes by land acquisition We are committed to: · deepening democracy and democratising development, supporting the assertion of constitutional rights of the communities, strengthening resistance movements in the process of struggle and constructive development · struggle for a new development process by restructuring existing administrative and political processes & structures · creating democratic space for alternative sustainable development · link up resistance movements with wider political movements for a holistic peoples politics to sustain and flower · By halting the development model progressing on the basis of dividing society on caste, communal, ethnic, gender grounds; so that resistance movements progress · Campaign for the electoral process to be responsive to people's aspirations; the power of recall should be central in all areas of representative politics · Reclaiming resources and democracy - not possible without discarding the draconian legislations in force *Declaration released on 13th August 2007* By, Coordination Committee Sangharsh 2007 * ________________________________________________________________________________ * *Delhi** Office: **Action 2007, *1-A, Goela Lane, Under Hill Road Civil Lines, Delhi - 54 *Tel.: *011-2393330,Rajendra Ravi (0-9868200316), Vijayan MJ (0-9868165471) *Mumbai Office: Action 2007, *C/0 Chemical Mazdoor Sabha, 28-29, First Floor 'A wing' Haji Habib Building, Naigaon Cross Road, Dadar (East), Mumbai-400014, *E-Mail:* [EMAIL PROTECTED] *Tel.: *022-24150529** --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. 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