Development Induced Displacement, SEZs and the State of Farmers in India: Some Insights from the Recent Experiences

Due to incessant scientific advancement, the era of globalization has attained a new degree of developmental height wherein governance is vying for ‘inclusive growth’ and ‘capacity building’. But behind such admired development achievements lays the grave for the underdevelopment of millions of marginal farmers whose land is utilized for the sake of attaining the national goal; creating the paradoxical situation of ‘crisis of success’. By virtue of a claim of sustainable and inclusive growth of marginal farmers and labourers, the development endeavors carried out in the recent past, contrarily, proved to be the bane, as it aggravated the problem of involuntary displacement, loss of land and livelihood, unemployment and human rights violation, and hence negating the chances of creation of a egalitarian society. By the introduction of SEZs in 2005 on the pretext of rural development, industrialization, augmentation of foreign currency reserves and employment generation, the government opened the flood gates to Multi National Corporations (MNCs) and big industries, further aggravating the problem of development induced displacement and making the situation worse for the farmers.The fluid condition of land acquisition and resettlement and rehabilitation Acts in India, despite many revisions and amendments, act as catalysts to strengthen hegemonic minorities against the feeble, majority representing proletariat. The situation has set-upa battleground, where infierce struggle, protests and violence is seen on the streets of India between the government, MNCs, industrialists and planners on the one side and farmers, labourers, marginal communities supported by exponents of civil society, human rights activists, NGOs and environmentalists on the other, destroying the tranquil environment.