Revision summary
Development displacement breaks tribal land, kin, and commons together. Sardar Sarovar on the Narmada is the teaching case. LARR 2013 lists land, house, and jobs; older 1894 awards were mostly cash. Colonies rarely restore nistar, council, or grove. Consent under PESA and FRA is the missing procedural core.
Model answer
Introduction
Rehabilitation and resettlement are the state’s promise that people moved for dams, mines, and industry will live again as a society. For tribals, the record is that cash and a plot rarely rebuild the grove.
Body
The typical break
- Sardar Sarovar on the Narmada became the national classroom: submergence of Adivasi hamlets, incomplete relocation, and a long legal-political fight.
- Displacement scatters kin across colonies. Hunt, fish, and shifting plots cannot move with a concrete house.
What R&R offers
- LARR 2013 lists housing, land-for-land where possible, jobs, and amenities. Forest rights under FRA should be settled before diversion.
- In practice, many older projects used 1894 awards: money without a viable farm, and common property left uncounted.
Social outcome
- Resettlement colonies mix tribes and castes. Councils weaken. Women’s work and girls’ safety often worsen.
- A job for one adult does not replace nistar for the household. Culture becomes a weekend return to a drowned shrine.
Standard of judgement
- Successful R&R would restore livelihood, community, and consent. Most tribal cases meet compensation, not restoration.
- PESA gram sabha consent is the procedural test that many files still fail.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD D[Dam mine town] --> X[Displacement] X --> R[R and R colony cash] R --> G[Gap grove kin livelihood] N[Narmada Sardar Sarovar] --> X
Conclusion
Tribal R&R is judged by whether a people still have land, council, and forest use. Colonies and cheques have usually delivered survival, not a rebuilt society. Narmada remains the warning case.
Quick related
Students also ask
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Discuss the interventions made by the Non-Governmental Organizations for empowering tribal women
Next question in the 2021 paper (Q7). View answer →
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Is a pucca house successful R&R?
Only if livelihood and community also move. A house without a field is incomplete.
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Do all displaced tribals live in one colony?
Often they are split across sites, which is why organisation thins.
PYQ trend
When UPSC asked this
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