Managing Resettlement in India: Approaches, Issues, Experiences

In India, development projects displace people in large numbers every year. Such displacement not only puts the affected people at grave impoverishment risk, but also sets back the entire poverty reduction effort. The resettlement of these people with access to proper living conditions and adequate livelihood opportunities constitute one of the country’s most significant developmental challenges. In spite of this, the management skills to address resettlement issues remain poorly developed. This volume looks at oft-neglected but critical resettlement issues that concern the lives of millions of people who are displaced to make development possible. Specifically, it probes how project authorities respond to resettlement needs of the people affected by large-scale infrastructure development projects. Written by some of the world’s leading resettlement specialists, the 14 essays in this volume point to the exiting lapses in resettlement practice and suggest useful policy and management responses. They pay particular attention, through a wide variety of examples, to the socio-economic consequences of development projects, livelihood restoration, policy and legal matters, gender concerns as also planning, implementation, and monitoring issues. Building on recommendations emerging from a major World Bank programme on training for resettlement management in India, the contributors to this collection put forth approaches towards resettlement, which can be followed in diverse displacement contexts to mitigate suffering and enhance the quality of life. This volume will be useful to all those involved in resettlement issues: policymakers, planners, practitioners, trainers, researchers, non-governmental organizations and international development agencies, as well as others generally interested in environmental issues and development studies.