Abstract
Development projects that involve displacement are currently a cause of growing concern everywhere. The worrisome aspect is that it is the poor who are hurt most in the process, becoming poorer than before. This paper, based on the author's experiences with people-displacing projects in Orissa, provides a vivid first hand account of sufferings of those who lose their lands and are forced to relocate. The consequences of displacement are particularly dire for tribal people, as they are deeply attached to their ancestral lands and find it virtually impossible to readjust in resettlement colonies thoughtlessly planned with no regard to their socio-cultural needs. As displacement, stimulated by the new industrial policy, is henceforth going to occur on an even bigger scale than before, it is important that resettlement and rehabilitation packages are so designed that they improve the lives, not impoverish the already poor people.
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