Sweet Poison Dayamani

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A Sweet Poison

Saga of displacing & pauperising people inJharkhand

Adivasi Moolvasi Astitva Raksha ManchJharkhand, India


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October 2009

Published by

Adivasi Moolvasi Astitva Raksha Manch

New Garden Siram Toli, Club Road

Ranchi, Jharkhand, India

Printed by:

Design & Dimensions

New Delhi (9810686122)

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A Sweet Poison

In a capitalist system based on plun-der and the nexus of the corruptpoliticians and bureaucrats, willJharkhand government'sResettlement and Rehabilitation(R&R) Policy 2008 bring any sub-stantial relief to tribal who losteverything in the name of develop-ment - their ancestral legacy, theirlands and what not? This question iscritical for those intellectuals, social

organizations and advocates of sus-tainable development who espousethe concerns of the people whosesurvival depends on water resources, forests and land. This policy was passed bythe state cabinet on July 16th, 2008. At a glance, it looks quite attractive, but,in fact, is totally incompatible with the realities of the lives of these people.The provision, in the policy, of providing compensation, jobs, shares and deben-tures of the company, constructed houses, one percent of company's net profit,

livelihood allowance, yearly policy benefits to the displaced is just a hogwash.This policy also talks about the social rehabilitation, whereas the commonknowledge is that social, economic, cultural and religious rehabilitation of trib-al-indigenous peoples is never possible and no amount of money can ever com-pensate the loss suffered by them.

The policy states that in case of undesired displacement of 100 or morefamilies, the state government will appoint an Relocation and

Rehabilitation(Rand R) Administrator through a notification at the DistrictCommissioner (DC) level. To implement R and R, there will be a team of officialscomprising of Development Commissioner as chairperson and secretaries ofdepartments of roads, industries, health, energy, labour, planning and law and aCommissioner (Coordination). The team will also include Members of Parliament(MP's) and Members of Legislative Assemblies (MLA's). It is well-known that allthe development schemes including Indira Awas Scheme, National RuralEmployment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), Antyodaya Scheme, AnnapoornaScheme and many others are controlled by these corrupt officials only. Their cor-rupt history is evidence of the fact that the fruits of the so called developmenthave always been pocketed by the politicians, officials, contractors and theiragents. The policy states that the fund reserved for R&R programs will be allot-ted to the R&R Administrator. It is clear that the funds coming in the name ofthe displaced persons shall be laundered by these people in their own interestsand the R&R policy will offer them another golden opportunity to do so.

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Those who hailthis policy must lookinto the history of thoselaws which had beenenacted for protectingthe basic rights of tribalof Jharkhand. Two suchlaws are ChhotanagpurKashtkari Act 1908 andSanthal ParganaKashtkari Act, whichhave a provision thatthe tribal land cannot

be sold or transferred toa non-tribal. After 50

years of enactment of these laws, almost 80 percent of tribal land in Jharkhandhas been grabbed by non-tribal. The current R&R policy contradicts theChhotanagpur Tenancy (CNT) Act and Santhal Pargana Tenancy (SPT) Act whichstate that agricultural land cannot be transferred for industrial purposes. Theareas in 5th and 6th schedule were given special powers. What happened tothese laws? They were never implemented. Public sector undertakings and proj-

ects like Bokaro Steel plant built in 1956, HEC in 1966-67, Chandil Dam in 1986and UCL in Jamshedpur were touted as symbols of a welfare state. At the timeof land acquisition for these plants, each one of them had an R & R policy andhad promised to give jobs,ideal rehabilitation, education and training to the dis-placed families. But what happened? In the name of jobs and other amenitiesto the displaced persons, only the officials, mafia and contractors got the ben-efits. On the contrary, the displaced were turned into paupers and beggars!

Clause 6.10 of the draft policy says that the rehabilitation official willensure that the rehabilitation is possibly done in a manner that the displacedpeople are settled in the familiar environment. But the question is how the tra-ditional village or social set up can be re-created. A traditional village is not acluster of houses, it always has a specific topography. It can not be assessed interms of giving compensation nor can it be re-created.

In Clause 6.23 of the draft policy it has been provided that the displacedpersons will have the option of purchasing shares/debentures or both worth halfthe value of rehabilitation amount of profit earning corporates. Clause 7.13.1ofthe policy states that affected families will be given one percent of the com-pany's net profit. Many questions pop up from these clauses which need to behonestly addressed. Instead, arguing that this policy will brighten the future ofJharkhandis will be a crude joke on the plight of the displaced tribal communi-ties. Ninety five percent of Jharkhandis still are farmers whose livelihood, social

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and economic systems, religious beliefs, linguistic-cultural identity-everythingis intertwined with the rivers, mountains, forests, land, trees, grass, flowers,fruits and in a sense with the the entire Nature. These people produce foodgrains for six months and rest of the time of the year they sustain themselvesby lead a life friendly with Nature. Forest produce like Jack fruit, Mango,Blackberry, Tamarind, Putkal, Koynar, Mahua-Dori, Char-Piyar, Kendu-Sarai,Karanj-Lah, Kusum, Chiraunji, Daatun-Patai, Rugda-Khunkhdi are the backboneof village economic life in Jharkhand. Every village has scores of Jack fruit,Mango, Black Plum, Tamarind, bamboo and Mahua trees and families of thefarmers here earn hundred-thousands of rupees every year out of these. Duringseasonal time, Karanj sells at Rs. 10 per kg, Mahua at Rs. 15/kg, Chiraunji at Rs.500/kg, Aamsi at Rs. 65/kg, Putkal Saag Sookha at Rs. 150/kg. How can onecompensate them for such a high return of their produce? Moreover, five percent

of the local indigenous population are traders whose 90 percent income comesfrom forest produce.

Of course the policy ensures employment for every one displaced but thebasic question here is that of illiteracy, which is almost 80 percent. In many vil-lages it is difficult to find a single 10th standard pass person. But Villagers arenot to be blamed for this. It is the system and the government which is respon-sible. Since it is hard to find youngsters trained in the discipline of science in

this area, many posts are lying vacant in village schools. If this is the situation,then how can one expect the villagers to understand jargon such as net profitof the company and share/debenture. It is to be explored as to how many tech-nical people, mechanical engineers, ITI trained personnel, computer efficientpeople are there in the areas where the companies are planning to install theirplants, because a mastery over these skills will be a pre-requisite for getting jobsin these companies. It is also being said that one percent of the net profit ofthe company will be given to the affected families. But then who will decide

whether the company is making profit or loss? Usually an enterprise shows itself'in loss' only to guarantee itself a financial stability.

Clause 7.11 says that one member of the family will be given a job but itis a known fact that tribal families usually are large families consisting of 15 to20 members. Hence the question is how can a single earning member of a fam-ily can sustain other 15 members?

Clause 7.12 of the policy states that the families not getting jobs will begiven Rs.1000 per acre per month for the next 30 years. This will be given perfamily under annual policy. Suppose that a family of 10 members having 5 acresland, gets Rs.5000 per month (p.m.) without doing any work. This family willhave to survive and fulfil all types of day-to-day economic and family obliga-tions including marriages of children with this meagre amount only. Thisamount can also be termed as pension against land. Farmers must not be hood-

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winked with this policy. Ifa farmer has 15-20 acreland which has beenacquired, then he will notideally get Rs. 15000-20000 per month as perthe policy. The policystates that under theannual policy, the maxi-mum amount to be fur-nished will be Rs. 10,000per month per family. Thesame policy states that

livelihood wages given willbe equal to 25 days of minimum agriculture labor wage per month for one year.A relevant question must be raised here. NREGS is being implemented in thestate since last three years. It has provision that if a farmer does not get workwithin 15 days of his registration, then he will be provided unemployment wagesfor the next 50 days. From the Prime Minister to the Block Development Officer(BDO) and Village Panchayat Sewaks, everyone is busy in the implementation ofthis program. It is a well known fact that people like Lalit Mehta and Tapas

Soren, who tried to implement this scheme in a genuine manner, had to losetheir lives. Mehta was murdered and Soren committed suicide. This shows thelevel of corruption and repression in this scheme. If such is the case with NREGS,then how can it be possible that a farmer will get living wages equal to 25 daysof agriculture wage?

Clause 7.2 of the policy states that each and every displaced family will begiven a maximum of 10 decimal land in village and 5 decimal in the city in which

the carpet area will be 100 square meters. It was said that a house will be builton this land which will have two bed rooms, a drawing room and a kitchen.Those who do not want house on this land will be given Rs. 300,000 so that theycan go elsewhere and build house by buying the land. Those who have livestockto keep will have to arrange for their living along with themselves on this 10decimal land only.

This draft policy does not talk about the rate on which lands will beacquired. It is also necessary for us to know about the terms and conditions ofthe MOU between state and the company regarding land acquisition and otherprovisions. The responsibilities of the company and state towards the displacedpersons need to be spelt out. Why is the government hiding these facts ? Whythe MOU is not being made public which has commoditised the lives of the com-mon people? Hiding the MOU and approving the R&R policy in the cabinetamounts to betraying the tribal and indigenous population!

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In order to show the people its good intention and human face, the com-pany, in the name of corporate social responsibility, is distributing medicinesthrough its Mobile Hospital vans. But the real intention behind this is to grabfarmers' lands. Similarly veiled is the conspiracy to grab the agriculture landsand forests behind every proposal to appease the tribal.

ArcelorMittal wants to set up steel plants in Khoonti and Gumla districtsby demolishing dozens of villages. Villagers have raised the slogan "We will nei-ther loose our lives nor will give a single inch of our land". They say that theirancestors had populated this land after waging fierce fights with pythons andbears. Hence they will not leave this land at any cost. The government or com-pany will provide employment to only a single person from a family, but thisland will feed the generations to come. The social, economic and cultural exis-

tence of tribal can survive and flourish only on land, forests and water.Otherwise tribal society will become extinct. Officials from Mittal Company forthe first time came to survey this area in May 2005. After surveying some vil-lages, when the team reached Rehargadha, the villagers started protesting andthey had to run away. Today, tribal and indigenous people of Torpa, Kamdara,Karra and Rania have pledged that they will not give at any cost a single inchof ancestral land to the Company. The tribal and indigenous people are self-suf-ficient in producing food grain for their livelihood and sustenance. In addition,

the forest plants and trees also bear many fruits in different seasons. These arenot only edible and nutritious, but act as the backbone of rural economy.Anything which grows on land is the social, cultural and economic backbone oflocal people. The flowing rivers are part of their living. Their language, cultureand society itself grows out of them. There are three rivers in this region-Chhata, Karro and Koyal which irrigate thousands of villages in Ranchi, Khoontiand Gumla and then proceed towards Orissa and West Bengal. These rivers pro-vide social, economic and cultural existence to Jharkhand and also help in the

progress of neighbouring states The people not only use the water of theserivers, but also the silt and sand of rivers for generating money. People in theseregions are also engaged in fishing from these rivers.

Due to the geographical location of this area and highly developed high-ways and railways facilities; Mittal Company wants to set up a plant here. Theywant to develop Pakra railway station as the centre of all their activities.Companies have a keen eye on these rivers in order to meet the requirement oftheir plants because there is no technical hindrance in draining water from theserivers as there are no dams around. Official sources say that the plant set up byMittal will be the largest in the world.

The state and central governments talk of the interests of tribal and farm-ers on one side; but on the other side they are engaged in serving the interestsof big industries and corporate by unleashing repression on tribal communities

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and hijacking their social and constitutional rights. If we look at the past expe-rience, not only are those people displaced whose lands are acquired but in theprocess of setting up new colonies in the neighbouring areas people living inthese areas are also evicted. Companies and governments talk of giving compen-sation, but who will compensate those who are displaced in the name of urban-ization?

The other question relates to the resettlement of people from the displacedareas into new ones. Will the old residents of resettlement colonies accept theentry of new people? Neglecting their consent, the government and the compa-nies resettle people in these already habited areas because they have neitherchoice nor land.

At the Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC) factory site, the displaced vil-lagers have been resettled in the neighboring villages. New names have beengiven to old villages, like Naya (new) Sarai, Naya Latma, Naya Satranji, NayaHulhundu etc. At places where resettlement sites are not available, people areleft in remote barren areas to die. And those said to be rehabilitated are lead-ing hellish lives in small shanties provided to them. This is not a fringe of imag-ination but a stark reality of the resettlement of those displaced due to so-called development projects.

Today ArcelorMittal wants to have its strong foothold in this area in thename of developing public facilities. They are talking of opening schools, col-leges, hospital, technical training institutes etc. If it is the genuine attempt ontheir part to bring tribal into mainstream,then they are most welcome. But it isall eye-wash! The company is luring the tribal communities because it wantstheir land, forests and water to set up a plant which will displace thousands andthousands of people from their culture, language, identity and legacy of their

ancestors. It is a known fact that once a tribal farmer is evicted from land,she/he is non-existent.

This area covers Kulda, Tati, Garai, Kenaloya, Samtolya, Sarita, Bongda,Kuda Turdu, Bamhandi, Sainsera, Bakaspur, Rangre, Tilmi, Jalanga, Jaria andIndvan forests. When Mittal sets up a plant here, not only local people will bedisplaced but the environment will also get polluted and ecology plundered. Therivers and other water resources will dry up and agriculture fields will bedestroyed. To set up the plant, forests will have to be cleared and it will affectneighbouring forests also because large number of outsiders will come in thisarea for jobs and new economic activities will take place.

When any company brings its capital in a particular region it is not alone.Along with it come other capitalists to start ancillaries. Thus Capital attractsmore capital in various productive sectors thereby creating the environment for

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competition. Amidst such competition how long the local small capitalists wouldsurvive can only be determined by the Global capital market. But it is true thatthe big fish swallows the smaller ones. Therefore, struggle against Mittal or anyother company is not limited to the ouster of tribal and indigenous populationalone, but this is also a struggle for survival of small capital against theonslaught of big capital.

Whose developmentand of what kind?Who will be taught in theschools? Will it be those

who have been displaced bythe Company from theirhomes and have beendeprived of their livelihood,employment, cultural iden-tity etc.? Who will be treat-ed in Company's hospitalswhen there will be not a single grain in the stomach of the people and no

clothes on their bodies? How many children of the displaced people will betaught by the company? How many will be trained? And for how long? This isnot possible at all, because company has come here to do business and bookprofits. It has not come to do social service. This is not an emotional outburst,but a stark reality which can be experienced in every area where industries havebeen set up.

Who will get jobs?The capitalists of the world are competing to sell their produce and services inthis global capital market. Now the capitalists are running short of sectors toinvest their capital as they have already invested heavily in the basic sectorsand services like water, education. food and health to earn maximum profit.That's why they want to plunder our natural resources for diversifying their busi-ness and book more profits. In such a scenario only those will be employed whounderstand this market and are technically sound. People having IA, BA, MAdegrees will become redundant. Moreover the Company can not ensure employ-ment to the people generation after generation whereas the natural resourceslike water, forests and lands have been nurturing tribal communities from gen-eration to generation and will continue to do so.

Before every land acquisition, they say- we will rehabilitate and compen-

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sate. The moot question is - compensation for what? Can they compensate forlanguage-culture, social values, history, traditional norms, and ancestral legacyof tribal communities? Will they compensate for herbs, trees, environment andSarna-Sasandiri? The tribal society is of the view that these can neither be reha-bilitated nor compensated!

Dayamani BarlaConvenor, Adivasi Moolvasi Astitva Raksha Manch

Jharkhand, India

E-mail: [email protected]: +91-9431104386

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I

We need food, not steel!We need development of our land,

not factories!!

Tribal and indigenous people are self sufficient in producing food grains for theirlivelihood. Anything that grows on land is the social, cultural and economicbackbone of the local people.

ArcelorMittal wants to set up a steel plant in Khoonti and Gumla by demol-ishing dozens of villages. Villagers have raised the slogan "We will neither looseour lives nor will give a single inch of land".

As per officials from Torpa, Kamdara, Raniya and Karra, ArcellorMittal hasidentified the following villages:


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Karrasubdivision-Dist. Khunti

Jamhar

Hudma Toli

Bhusoor

Urikel

Rahedgadha

Churle

Bikwadag

Jojodag

Bakaspur

Lappa

Regre

Torpasubdivision-Dist. Khunti

Kulda

Kanakloya

Aama

Chukru

Urmi

Satal

Karoda

Marcha

Turigadha

Urikel

Banabira

Jimlong

Kherkai

Raikera

Raniasubdivision-Dist. Khunti

Digri

Loagadha

Manhatu

Garai

Token

Kulai

Khatanga

Kamdarasubdivision-Dist. Gumla

Kisni

Bongda

Sarita

Titihi

Pakra

Bamhandi

Turundu

Poje

Kondkera

Kuda

Suruhu

Kitapidi

Pakut

Pokla

Sonmer

Chatakpur

Ramtoliya

Kenaloya

Bamhadi


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Mittal's Company needs 12000-hectares of land.

The company is installing a plant of 12 million ton capacity.

It will also establish a 2500 MW power plant and a Special Economic Zone(SEZ).

The rivers in this area are Koyal. Karo, Chhata and many small waterresources.

The Company has been allotted 500 acres and 1086 acres of land inKapmapda for Iron Ore.

The Koyal belt has also been handed over for coal.

The Company is investing capital in major areas which itself speaks of thedevastation that will be caused to people, rivers and forests:

1. Koyla block- area of forestland to be acquired is undeclared.

2. Iron Ore- 1586 acre of land is already allotted, rest in waiting.

3. Construction of canals and dams- undeclared.

4. For plant- 12000-hectare land is needed, but as per MOU, company needs25000 acres of land.

5. Land required for railway line.

6. Land required for urbanization.

7. Land required for associated factories.

The local people are raising questions about the displacement of hundredsand thousands of people, whereas the company is denying this. The Hindi dailyHindustan's August 22, 2008 issue says that the company's CEO Vijay Bhatnagarclaims the Jharkhand plant is the world's largest plant. He said that "our plantwould be as large as HEC, Bokaro, Tata and Rourkela combined." He has said thatthis will be a model plant.

We have vowed that we will not hand over even an inch of our ancestralland to the company. We have raised the slogan- neither we give lives, nor land.We need food, not steel. We need development of our land, not factories.

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II

Whom is this government trying to fool:Local people or the Company?

Jharkhand Government is selling out the community resources of 10 villages inKamdara sub divisions of district Gumla having 1025 acres of land. This is a clearrepression of tribal indigenous people of this area. The CNT law is applicablehere, which means that all the land in these villages is a community property.This is stated in Khatiyan part two. But the government is unanimously identi-fying this land as the government property for selling it to Mittal. This is a vio-lation of Chhotanagpur Kashtkari law. All these plots vary in size, some are 5-20decimel and are situated apart having water resources and mountains. TheGovernment is asking for an amount of Rs. 15,48,71,550.00 for this land. It isevident that government has the responsibility to protect these lands in theinterest of the villagers who have natural control over it. Since people areopposed to selling land to Mittal, the administration is selling off communityresources like roads, rivers and culverts. For example, a village has a total landarea of 1740.80 acres out of which 111.05 acre is being identified for sale. This


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is the height of repression!When the government offi-cials were asked whether itis possible to set up indus-tries on this land, theydenied. So the questionarises, whom is this gov-ernment trying to fool:Local people or the com-pany?

The people inhabitthe land that the govern-

ment has declared its own.Farmers plough over it and it is used for grazing. This land has been awardedduring Bhoodan (land redistribution campaign) to marginalised peasants andthey have valid certificates for this. They are also paying taxes. Kamdara offi-cials were asked as to who has prepared the list of plots being sold out to Mittal?They answered that the company itself has provided this. It is to be noted thatthe last land survey was done in 1932! At that time, most of the land was unin-habited. It is clear that the population has risen in the last 77 years and these

people have only inhabited the villages which were once uninhabited. The moststriking feature is the unaccountability of the state administration. They areplaying in the hands of the company officials. If this had not been so, it wouldhave first verified the list provided by the company. This proves that both areready to evict the villagers out of their heritage. The government is working asthe company's agent. The district administration, on the one hand, arrangesGram Sabha meetings on 16th of every month in Gumla district; but at the sametime is involved in repression of the people.

If ArcelorMittal has any morals, it must rethink on the repression of thepeople. The government is trying to pave the way for company's entry into thevillages, which is the height of inhumanity. The plots identified lie in betweenthe homes of peasants. Obviously, they will not give their land, then how willthe company set up plant on these plots? In order to bring justice to the tribalindigenous people it is imperative to understand the geographical, economic,social, cultural conditions of these villages. The 10 villages identified for landtransfer have a total land area of 12000 acres among which farmland is 10032.50acres, forestland 1005.87 acres and irrigated land is 433.80 acres. The land iden-tified for setting up industry in Kamdara is not less than 20-25 acre. The MittalCompany facing the wrath of world economic recession is now ready to cut downthe project size. It is talking of 6MT production in the first phase whereas it wasdecided to produce 12MT earlier. People are aware of the cunningness of thecompany officials. The tribal-indigenous people have decided not to hand over

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III

Mittal Says : we are doing CSR in thisarea since last four years, so no point in

going away

.But Outsiders are not allowed intothe village without prior permission of

Gram Sabha.

It is a historical fact that our ancestors possessed this land after fighting

fierce pythons and bears, so why should we leave this land?


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Mittal is trying to grab the peasant's land by hook or by crook. He is try-ing to lure villagers by educational, health, employment, ITI training, nursingfacilities. It is also involved in free plantations. All this is being done to grabland from the farmers. But people have halted all these programs in the area.People have banned the entry of any person opposed to the movement. Theyhave installed a board on the entry points of all villages which says "Outsidersare not allowed into the village without prior permission of the Gram Sabha."Company officials are trying to convince people by taking the services of sometouts. They are intimidating people from the movements, providing them liquoretc. They are trying to lure away the youth and taking them to training programsrun by the company.

The plantation work being done by the Mittal Company is ridiculous. This

area is agriculturally sound having dozens of forests spread in thousands acresof land. These have many fruit bearing trees and herbs. This flora-fauna hashelped in balancing the ecosystem of this area. Mittal's claim of doing planta-tion in the area is ridiculous. He is just devastating this land of the rich her-itage. They have done plantations in two schools of Kamdara of trees namelySiris, Mango, Ashok etc. and some herbs. It has been done in DAV School prem-ises of Jamhar, Karra districts. These plants are useless in nature. Even goats donot consume these plants. All these plants bear a company board. Our organiza-

tion has asked for clarification from the school management whether they sup-port the company or the people.

The company has given contract to Ranchi Trust for distribution of medi-cines in this area. When the people came to know about this, they stopped theentry of trust officials in the villages. Once the Trust vehicle was seen on theTorpa road entering Kamdara, people stopped the vehicle and asked whether theyhave taken permission for entry. They denied, after which a bond was executed

and signed by them stating that they will not repeat this without prior permis-sion. When the vehicle number was asked, they said that this vehicle is withouta number. Now it is not possible for any trust vehicle to enter into the village.

Hindi daily Prabhat Khabar had published a story regarding a school run byMittal Company in Marcha of Torpa district. This school was run in the house ofKishun Sahoo. When our organization inquired Sahoo, he refused it. It was foundthat the school was being run behind closed doors and whenever anyone visitsthe place, the guard says that there is no one inside. If the company is runninga school, why is it behind closed doors? The same question arises regarding thetrust's vehicle, which does not bear any number, which is illegal. It may be pos-sible that the company must have been sending some anti-social elements inthese vehicles to intimidate the villagers. Our organization demands a high levelinquiry into these acts as all the CSR works claimed by the company are suspi-cious and dubious..

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Mittal is providing security training through an NGO to 50 girls under CSR.The company has conspired to destroy the state's youth by these acts. Theseyoungsters belong to standard 8th to 10th pass. The question arises as to whatkind of employment will be given to these youngsters? Obviously, these all aredone just to misguide the young population.

People are aware that company is paying salaries to some people, who areworking to weaken the protest against Mittal. It is boosting anti-social elementsin the society. It has crossed all human norms in destroying the lives of tribaland farmers.

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