AHRC: India denies the right of food to indigenous peoples

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learn from a field visit
that more than 30 hamlets of Mandla and Seoni districts are going to
be affected by the power plant project being launched by the Nuclear
Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) in association with the
government since 1984. Most of the hamlets are predominantly occupied
by the tribes or indigenous people. The villagers have already gone
through the displacement by dam construction in 1990s for the purpose
of the irrigation water and electricity for the villagers. However,
the benefits did not reach the affected villagers but rather increased
their food insecurity by taking the land from them. Proposing the
power plant project this time, the government suggests that the water
from dam would be used for the power plant, reversing the primary
purpose. Until today, the district administration has held a village
representatives (Gram Sabha) meeting only once in April 2010, while
making several informal visits or survey attempting to persuade the
villagers to agree to the project. Three Gram Sabhas passed the
resolution against the project. Lack of legitimate procedure to launch
the development project exposed in this case infringes the domestic
laws and the rights of indigenous people envisaged in the
international laws, exacerbating food security and poverty of tribes.

CASE DETAIL: (based on the field visit and the research report):

Lack of legitimate process violating the right to food

The Bargi dam launched in 1970s and completed in 1990s submerged 162
villages including the Chutka Hamlet of Mandla district. Mandla
district is predominantly occupied by the tribes and fully under the
Schedule V area defined in Constitution, which means that the rights
of tribes over the land or resources should be fully protected and no
project can be launched without legitimate procedure and agreement of
Gram Sabha (elected administration body at village level). In reality,
the villagers have been confronting the denial of their rights and
deprivation of their productive resources by the development projects.

The villagers affected by Bargi dam construction had lost their land,
houses, and income sources from the river or forest without land
compensation at that time, and currently fear that they would lose
their land and other productive resources again by the power plant
project that requires approximately 725 hectares. Chutka, Patha,
Tatighat of Patha Panchahayt, and Kunda and Bhaliwada of Kunda
Panchayat hamlets are likely to be directly affected whereas more than
30 villages of Mandla and Seoni districts will be allegedly directly
or indirectly affected.

The Bargi dam was constructed for the public purpose providing water
for the villagers, whereas the current government insists that the
water from the dam would be given not to the villagers but used by the
power plant. Despite the opposition of the villagers who have passed
the resolution against the project in the meeting of three Gram
Sabhas, the administration has been attempting to launch the project
by visiting the villages, conducting surveys, and proposing
compensation, without legitimate procedure. The administration also
has allowed the company, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India
Limited (NPCIL) to conduct survey and visit the villages several times
without prior notice, failing to protect the rights of the villagers.
It is witnessed that the officials of the company further threatened
to put the villagers into the jail saying that the power plant project
would be launched soon.

In 1980s, the helicopters had come to Chutka village to drill holes
on the land and collect samples from the ground. Some villagers
recalled that they did not have any idea about them and just used the
stones as a cooking tool at home. Since then, without prior notice,
the survey teams from time to time came to the village and allegedly
threatened to put in jail to the villagers who asked them to leave.
The current Collector Mr. K K Khare assured that the project would not
be carried out without approval of the villagers, acknowledging that
the new project requires the approval to be launched. He on the other
hand suggested that the villagers would be provided with INR 40,000
(USD 882.5) per acre as compensation. The Collector did not suggest
the accurate indicator for land assessment nor took proper process for
that. In fact, the villagers found that the land price exchanged at
the market is much higher than what the Collector suggested.

Even after the media disclosed the power plant project in October
2009, the local administration did not inform anything in public and
the survey team rather came to the village to measure the land without
any notice in November 2009. The villager, on December 22 2009, wrote
a letter to the Governor expressing their opposition to the project as
well as their concern about losing their nature with forest, land and
water, and about environment destruction. The letter was sent to the
Collector who forwarded it to the General Administration Department
who conveyed it to the Governor. However, the Governor has not yet
replied to the villagers.

In March 2010, Mr. Sanat Kumar Agarwal, a chief engineer of the NPCIL
along with other officials came to the village and told that the power
project would be launched. On April 13, the district administration
held a meeting with the Gram Sabha in Chutka hamlet to explain the
project and its impact. Jabalpur Divisional Commissioner Mr. Prabhat
Parasher announced that nothing would be done without taking the
villagers into confidence.

On July 6, 2010, the survey team again visited the village without
prior notice and two days later the village council had a meeting and
decided not to allow the survey and the project. One survey team
member Mr. G N Solanki pledged in written statement that they would
not do anything without knowledge of the villagers and would have a
meeting with the villagers in public, but they did not appear to the
meeting while the villagers from 15 villagers came for the meeting. On
July 26, the villagers submitted a petition to the Collector demanding
that the villagers should be informed and nothing should be done in a
secret manner. The Collector has not yet replied to the petition. In
December 2010, the villagers also sent a letter to the Ministry of
Environment who has also yet to reply.

On December 26, without having any proper responses and legitimate
procedure from the government, the villagers held a public meeting in
Kunda village. It was attended by about 5,000 villagers from 54
villages affected by the Bargi Dam, and who are likely to be affected
by the proposed nuclear power plant.

The villagers in the meeting suggested that the height of the water
in the dam be reduced to 418 meters after December 15 each year, that
cultivable land in the submergence area be returned to the former
owners; that fish cultivation be given a boost; that the dam water be
used only for drinking water supply or agriculture and not to private
corporations; and that individual and community rights be restored at
once in accordance with the provisions of the Forest Rights’ Act,
2006.

Three Gram Sabhas of the Chutka, Tatighar and Kunda villages have
passed resolutions against the power plant project. On the contrary,
the Sub Divisional Magistrate pressured the Secretary of the villages
to withdraw the resolution.

As shown in the case, the non-transparent and non-legitimate process
creates suspicion and unaccountability against the administration and
the company who in fact violate the law and the human rights.

‘Development project’ aggravating child malnutrition, food
insecurity and poverty

More than half of the total population in Chutka is tribes such as
Gonds or Baiga. Out of 200-odd households in total, only 15 percent
possess agricultural land ranging from one to twenty acres after
displacement by Bargi dam construction. Many families cultivate the
‘drowned’ land that they have leased for ten years when the water
of Bargi dam recedes. They harvest wheat once a year after rainy
season paying INR 100 rent per acre. In general, a family can make INR
10,000-15,000 (USD 221-332) per year from two acres of land, which is
less than one USD per day.

The forest has been providing various resources for the villagers for
generations. Most families collect chicory and mahua fruit and
flowers, and other fruit or seeds, which supplement their food while
protecting the forest as well. Given the fact that the villagers do
not have sufficient land to manage nutritious food and other
necessity, and identify with nature, the forest is a significant part
of their life economically and culturally. If the power plant project
displaced the villagers to non-forest area, the villagers would lose
even the small pieces of land they own at present as well as other
resources from the forest, resulting in increasing food insecurity. On
the other hand, as a tribe who has a right to claim the land under the
Forest (rights) Act 2006, 68 families submitted the application for
land claim, for which no result has come yet.

The agricultural lands are mostly occupied by the powerful feudal
landlords who even took over the land drowned by the dam. Only after
the villagers’ protest, the administration authority forced the
landlords to give it to smaller farmers who usually possess 2.5 to 7.5
acres. However, the administration authority failed to protect the
rights of small scale-farmers resulting in that some landlords have
already snatched the land back from the small scale-farmers who have
the title to the land but lost the right to cultivation.

The families affected by Bargi dam do not enjoy the benefits from the
dam. They were provided with solar panels attached to batteries, which
they use in daytime. The regular electricity was supplied to the
villagers a few years ago without installing the meters in every
house. As the bills were delivered to the village regardless of usage
and were not paid, the electricity supply was cut off at the end of
2009. The villagers currently use oil lantern with no electric supply.
The villagers do not get irrigation water from the dam either and
further observe that they get less rain after the dam was constructed.
The power plant will also aggravate food security of about 2,000
villagers who manage their lives by fishing, as the power plant will
set up radioactive substance in water that will affect fishes and
other water bodies.

In addition, safe drinking water is not sufficient. The villagers go
down to the Narmada riverside to get drinking water. Only three hand
pumps are available in the village, which is not sufficient for all.
Women have to wake up early morning 3:30am to fetch water at the river
to avoid the crowd.

While the government tries to launch various development projects,
the villagers suffer from lack of basic infrastructure to ensure the
right to food and health care. The Primary Health Centre (PHC) is far
away from the village, taking two hours to reach. The subsidy for
delivery, INR 1400 is usually spent for transportation to reach the
PHC or public hospitals and food. The ambulance for emergency is not
available any more. The anganwadi (child care centre) worker regularly
provides vaccines under the program and does her work at her own house
as the anganwadi building is not given. The anganwadi worker estimates
that about 55 children are malnourished, and mothers who take the
malnourished children to the Nutritional Rehabilitation Centre (NRC)
find it difficult to stay in 14 days for the treatment as having other
children and housework to look after at home and there is no
additional assistance from the NRC. There is no guarantee for the
malnourished children to be fully recovered after 14 days-treatment.
The lack of infrastructure and poor system discourages the Accredited
Social Health Activist (ASHA) to do her service. The honorarium (150
INR for accompanying with pregnant woman to the public health
institutions) she receives for her health care activities for the
mothers and the children in the village is spent for transportation
and is not given to her if it is not ready at the public hospitals.

In short, the development projects have not benefited the villager
affected and aggravated the food security as the villagers have lost
their land, one of the main resources for food while the
administration authority fails to respect the right to food and
health, neglecting their duty to provide basic facilities and to
implement the social programs targeted for the poor.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

The United National Declaration of Indigenous People

adopted by General Assembly Resolution 61/295 on 13 September 2007
clearly states that the indigenous people should have right of
self-determination, right to development in accordance with their
needs and interest, right to land, territories and resources and
control over developments and such as. The Declaration implies that
the indigenous people often confront discrimination and exclusion in
decision-making process and exploitation of the natural resources that
they depend for centuries, resulting in the violation of their civil
and political rights and loss of their cultural identity.

In particular, the Article 10 states that no relocation shall take
place without the free, prior and informed consent of the indigenous
peoples concerned and after agreement on just and fair compensation
and, where possible, with the option of return. The Article 8
emphasizes that the state shall provide effective mechanism for
prevention of and redress for any action which has the aim or effect
of dispossessing them of their lands, territories or resources.

The obligations are translated into the domestic legal framework in
India and therefore, the rights of indigenous people are guaranteed by
the domestic laws. However, the laws are not effectively implemented
and rather infringed by the law enforcement agencies or administration
officials.

Mandla district of this case is one of the districts of Madhya
Pradesh which is fully under Schedule V areas defined in the
Constitution. In 1998, the Government of India issued executive
instruction to set up systems for consulting with the Gram Sabhas as
the Collector of Mandla acknowledges and detail the procedure for land
acquisition. Accordingly, the tribes in this area can enjoy their
rights over land, forests, water bodies and other resources unless the
villagers and gram sabhas agree to the project and land acquisition.
Under the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act of 1996, the
tribes can enjoy their rights over the natural resources and the
government should take legitimate procedure and obtain the agreement
of the villagers to launch development project in the scheduled areas.

More strongly in 1997, The Supreme Court of India (Samatha v. State
of Andhra Pradesh A.I.R. 1997 S.C. 3297) held that forests and lands
in scheduled areas, irrespective of whether owned by the government or
by a tribal community, cannot be leased out to non-tribal or to the
private companies for mining or industrial uses.

The Mandla district administration, infringing the domestic laws and
international human rights principles, denies the rights of tribal
communities and other villagers and rather contributes to aggravate
food insecurity and poverty of the tribes. The state government who is
the actual and main duty bearer in implementing human rights and laws
also fails to respect and protect the rights of the tribes.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please join us in expressing your concern for the villagers who are
likely displaced by the power plant project without proper legitimate
procedure. Please be noted that the government authority infringe the
domestic laws and international human rights laws for the indigenous
people and other villagers. The AHRC has also written separate letters
calling for the intervention of the UN Special Rapporteurs on the
right to adequate food and on the rights of indigenous people.

To support this appeal please click here:

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SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear __________,

INDIA: Call for withdrawal of power plant project and the legitimate
procedure to protect the right to food of tribes in Madhya Pradesh

Name of the hamlets where would be affected by the power plant
project:

Mandla district: Chutka, Patha, Tatighat, Kunda, Bhaliwada, Dehra,
Singodha, Mohgaon, Bijegan, Manegaon, Simariya, Khamariya, Pipariya,
Ghot khera, Pindrai, Sahajpuri, Chargaon, Devhar, Bhanpur, Sikausi,

Seoni district: Pipatola, Pipariya, Chindwaha, Dhooma, Bakhari,
Khursipaar, Rotu

Name of the government officials and agencies attached to the case:

1. Ministry of Environment and Forests

2. Mr. K K Khare, District Collector, Mandla district

3. Nuclear Energy Department

4. Mr. Rakesh Singh, a member of Parliament

5. Mr. Basori Singh Masram, a member of Parliament of Madhya Pradesh

6. Mr. Prabhat Parasher, Divisional Commissioner

7. Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL)

8. Mr. G N Solanki, a member of survey team for the project

Date of incident: since 1984

I am writing to you to express deep concern about the tribal families
of more than thirty hamlets who are likely to be affected by the power
plant project. The administration as well as the Nuclear Power
Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) denies the rights of indigenous
people, or the tribes by attempting to launch the project without
legitimate procedure since 1980s. I am clearly aware that it infringes
the domestic laws that require the approval of the Gram Sabha, the
representative body of the villagers through proper process. The
government officials including the district Collector and Divisional
Commissioner, on the contrary, have been visiting the villages and
conducting field surveys without prior notice and villagers' consent.

The villagers testified that since 1980s, the officials from the
company started coming to the villages for survey without prior notice
nor any consultation with the villagers. The villagers did not have
any idea on what was happening.

The media disclosed the power plant project in October 2009, by which
the villagers for the first time came to learn the project. The
villagers who had gone through the displacement when the Bargi dam was
constructed between 1970s and 1990s, fear that they would be displaced
again. At that time, about 162 villages were submerged and lost their
agricultural land and houses without land based compensation. There
was no legitimate procedure to obtain the villagers' consent and to
assess the land value.

I have studied that Bargi dam aggravated the food security of the
villagers. For instance, in Chutka hamlet, out of 200-odd households
in total, only 15 percent possess agricultural land ranging from one
to twenty acres after displacement. Many families cultivate the
‘drowned’ land that they have leased for ten years when the water
of Bargi dam recedes. They harvest wheat once a year after rainy
season paying INR 100 rent per acre. In general, a family can make INR
10,000-15,000 (USD 221-332) per year from two acres of land, which is
less than one USD per day. It proves they live in extreme poverty. The
villagers collect some productive resources from the forest while many
of them are forced to migrate to other districts or cities for a
living. Other villages face similar situation.

The villagers have already gone through the non-transparency and
unaccountability of the administration, which they confront again this
time. Even after the media report, the administration did not inform
anything in public and the survey team rather came to the village to
measure the land without any notice in November 2009.

The villagers, on December 22 2009, wrote a letter to the Governor
expressing their opposition to the project as well as their concern
about losing their nature with forest, land and water, and about
environment destruction. The letter was sent to the Collector who
forwarded it to the General Administration Department who conveyed it
to the Governor. However, the Governor has not yet replied to the
villagers.

In March 2010, Mr. Sanat Kumar Agarwal, a chief engineer of the NPCIL
along with other officials came to the village and told that the power
project would be launched. On April 13, the district administration
held a meeting with Gram Sabha to explain the project and its impact,
which is the only public meeting till today. In the meeting, the
Jabalpur Divisional Commissioner Mr. Prabhat Parasher reportedly
announced that nothing would be done without taking the villagers into
confidence.

The current Collector Mr. K K Khare assured that the project would
not be carried out without approval of the villagers, acknowledging
that the new project requires the approval to be launched. He on the
other hand suggested that the villagers would be provided with INR
40,000 (USD 882.5) per acre as compensation. The Collector did not
suggest the accurate indicator for land assessment nor took proper
process for that. In fact, the villagers found that the land price
exchanged at the market is much higher than what the Collector
suggested.

On July 6, 2010, the survey team again visited the village without
prior notice and two days later the Gram Sabha had a meeting and
decided not to allow the survey and the project. One survey team
member Mr. G N Solanki pledged in written statement that they would
not do anything without knowledge of the villagers and would have a
meeting with the villagers in public, but they did not appear to the
meeting while the villagers from 15 villagers came for the meeting. On
July 26, the villagers submitted a petition to the Collector demanding
that the villagers should be informed and nothing should be done in a
secret manner. The Collector has not yet replied to the petition. In
December 2010, the villagers also sent a letter to the Ministry of
Environment, who has also yet to reply.

On December 26, without having any proper responses and legitimate
procedure from the government, the villagers held a public meeting in
Kunda village. It was attended by about 5,000 villagers from 54
villages affected by the Bargi Dam, and is likely to be affected by
the proposed nuclear power plant.

Three Gram Sabhas of village Chutka, Tatighar and Kunda have passed
resolution against the power plant project. On the contrary, the Sub
Divisional Magistrate pressured the Secretary of the villages to
withdraw the resolution.

It is clearly observed that as shown in the whole process till today,
the administration authority violates the domestic laws such as the
Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act of 1996, guaranteeing
that the government should obtain the agreement from the villagers who
live in the Schedule V area defined by the Constitution. I am aware
that Mandla district is fully under the Schedule V area. In addition,
under the Forest Rights Act 2006, the tribes should enjoy their rights
to land and other resources, which the administration as well as the
company denies.

The rights of indigenous people or tribes are also clearly envisaged
in the United Nation Declaration of Indigenous People adopted by
General Assembly Resolution 61/295 on 13 September 2007. It states
that the indigenous people should have right of self-determination,
right to development in accordance with their needs and interest,
right to land, territories and resources and control over developments
and such as. The Declaration implies that the indigenous people often
confront discrimination and exclusion in decision-making process and
exploitation of the natural resources that they depend for centuries,
resulting in the violation of their civil and political rights and
loss of their cultural identity. It is what exactly happening to the
villagers who may face displacement by the power plant project.

I am further informed that unlike what the administration authority
and other politicians suggested, the power plant project would not
improve their living condition but aggravate the food security as the
benefits by Bargi dam do not reach the villagers. The villagers
currently use oil lantern with no electric supply. The villagers do
not get irrigation water from the dam either. It is alleged that the
power plant will also aggravate food security of about 2,000 villagers
who manage their lives by fishing, as the power plant will set up
radioactive substance in water that will affect fishes and other water
bodies. All the villagers will lose their small pieces of land and the
productive resources from the forest, which is the only resource they
have. While the administration authority attempts to launch the power
plant project, the villagers also face lack of drinking water and
basic public health care facilities which the administration does not
pay attention to. It is reported that about 55 children in Chutka
hamlet alone are malnourished, however, the Primary Health Centre
(PHC) is far away from the village, taking two hours to reach, and
there is no public place for the childcare health worker (anganwadi
worker) to take care of the children.

ENDS

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