Jobs for 500 families could have saved Vedanta

If it was the inability to resettle 450 families that ensured Korean steelmaker Posco couldnt get the land it needed,it was the inability to give jobs to 500 families in and around the Vedanta site in Niyamgiri that put paid to the aluminium majors project. National Advisory Committee (NAC) member N C Saxena,who wrote the report that resulted in Vedantas project getting cancelled,said this at the Idea Exchange programme of The Indian Express Wednesday.I am in favour of growth, Saxena said,citing figures to show this would generate more jobs. A hectare of land in these areas,he said,would generate around two jobs; setting up industrial projects on the same land could create 20-30 jobs per hectare.So why did he come down heavily on the project in his 123-page report last August?When I first visited the Niyamgiri area in 2001,it was well-known that a bauxite refinery was going to come up here. When I visited it again in 2010,I found there had been no attempt to recognise the rights of tribals under the Forest Rights Act (FRA)… I found that people protesting had done so with thumb-prints which suggests no attempt was even made to educate them,to provide them basic skills, Saxena said.Around a fifth of the 7,952 tribal residents of the area live in villages in and around the proposed mining area.

Would giving them jobs have helped ensure the refinery got permission under various statutes,considering there were environmental issues as well? Saxena conceded there were several issues,but felt that giving families livelihood would have played an important role.

You cant pass a law only to bypass it later, Saxena said. India has too many laws that are impossible to implement,and officials got used to collecting bribes,he said. Even the FRA,Saxena said,had several inconsistencies; his job,however,was to ensure the Act was implemented.

Section 3 of the Act recognised forest dwellers rights. Going by this,around 60-70% of the forest area of 70 million hectares gets covered. Are we in a position to deal with the rights of people on 50 million hectares,more so when we have done this for only 20,000 hectares so far? he asked.

Asked whether asking miners to give 26% of profits to tribals was a good idea given that it would require each mine to become a standalone profit centre,Saxena said: The NAC did not discuss the issue of profit-sharing,but money is not the issue as the tribal affairs ministry cant even spend half the money allotted to it.

Why cant tribals be allowed to sell their forest rights and move to cities?

Since they are illiterate,have no skills for modern jobs and are easily fooled, Saxena said. This will result in massive land alienation,often for as little as a bottle of liquor.