Displaced Dalits Awaits Compensation

Displaced Dalits Awaits Compensation

By Arun Kumar

When the entire world is discussing the Narmada bachao Andolan (NBA) fame activist, Medha Patkar's fast at the Indian capital city of New Delhi I would like to stress that in India not only the displaced oustees of the Narmda Dam are those who are not rehabilitated. Non-rehabilitation could be said to be as a rule whether rehabilitation an exception. Almost all the oustees of "development" projects in India - be it irrigation and hydro projects, factories or otherwise are as a rule not rehabilitated.

In the Indian state of Bihar, known as a turbulent state- for its being Maoist infested and for unrest in rural and urban areas - poorer section of the society are the most vulnerable one. Not only the dalits and extremely backwards but also those economically deprived sections of the backward and upper caste sections of the society - be it Hindu or the Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and whatever it may be - religion and caste no bar - belong to the same deprived sections.

Many poeople who are not aware of the problems of India at its grass roots would not believe that compensation amount for the displaced persons, mostly dalits, who were thrown out of their dwellings way back in the year 1980 were not paid even after 25 years.

The affected lot were the ousted from their dwellings after the state government took over their plots to set up the Sitamarhi Industrial Area in the year 1980. It was despite a court order for payment of compensation amount which was passed in the year 1993.

Such crimes are manifestation of inhuman and apathetic approach of the government machinery towards problems of the commion man. Law courts of Bihar or for that matter even any part of India have a plenty of long pending cases which relates to the suffering of the workmen at the hands of corporate citizen, a large number of them die before the case is decided. All such cases relates to illegal retrenchment of workers, blatant and brazen violation of labour laws, violation of human rights. One would wonder that even the non-journalist employees of The Times Of India newspaper group which boasts of its being the "World's largest daily" are not being paid their due wages prescribed by the Manisana Singh Wage Board since April 1998. This is the reality at the grass roots in the Indian Republic of Bihar.

(Arun Kumar is Vice President, People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Bihar State unit and also associated as national executive committee member with the Indian Journalists Union. He is president of The Times Of India Newspaper Employees' Union, Patna.)