Resettlement in the Sardar Sarovar Project: A Cause Vitiated

The rights of poor people of developing countries are a delicate and controversial issue. The state resents any western intervention for human rights, more so when it concerns developmental work. For a change, the state of Gujarat relented in the face of local-international NGO pressure to effect better resettlement and rehabilitation (R&R) policy. The state retreated from a haughty position of being the solely legitimate guardian of tribal interests. The triumph was short lived, however. A new national-international alliance emerged and turned R&R into a means to stall the project. The World Bank Independent Review strengthened the manoeuvre immensely. The state reverted to its old corrupt ways. The R&R remains precarious and the viability of the project is endangered.