The primary among these demands are jobs for the displaced tribals in the industries that are coming up on lands that once belonged to them. Soon after the January 2 killings, Patnaik announced the formation of a Group of Ministers (GoM), headed by his industry minister Biswabhushan Harichandan, to recommend an adequate compensation-cum-rehabilitation package for all who will be displaced by industrial projects. But doubts exist over the sincerity of the exercise. "This is a typically careless response, seen whenever such incidents occur. You don't need a GoM to make such recommendations. In any case, they already exist," says Congress leader and former minister Harihar Karan. That is true. A UNDP-sponsored study had detailed such a package a few years ago, but the report has been gathering dust. CPI(M) leader Janardhan Pati says successive governments, both at the Centre and the state, have been exploiting the tribals. "That is why things have come to such a pass. The government has never compensated the tribals adequately and has never cared for their rehabilitation. The same applies to communities in the coastal areas who have been displaced by various other projects," he adds.
The plight of the displaced—be they tribals or other communities—is condemnable. Take the case of the families of adivasis, dalits and backward classes who were expelled from their lands to make way for the Neelachal Ispat Nigam Ltd (NINL) at Kalinga Nagar in 1998. The 634 displaced families were given small plots of land at a new colony (Gobarghati Rehabilitation Colony) some 12 kilometres away from their villages. "We got just one-tenth of an acre per family at this colony and Rs 37,000 for an acre of the land we were displaced from. Most of the displaced families preferred to move away to other areas instead of settling down here. Many have vanished. Our community has fallen apart," points out Abhimanyu Mahanta. His family used to own ten acres of land. Gajendra Mahanta, whose family once owned 18 acres of land, rues: "The government promised us jobs in Neelachal. Not a single person has got a job so far. We were promised free medical facilities, free electricity and various other sops. Nothing has materialised." While the displaced families received all of Rs 37,000 for their lands, NINL paid the Industrial Development Corporation of Orissa(IDCO) Rs 3.5 lakh for every acre of land the company received. The same is the case with Tisco. It paid Rs 3.75 lakh per acre to Idco which gave the displaced only Rs 62,000 per acre.
Ashok Swain, a professor in the department of peace & conflict resolution at Uppsala University in Sweden, notes that no government has ever cared for the poor and the tribals. "What makes the plight of the tribals worse is the neglect and scorn they face from bureaucrats, including the police. They look upon the tribals with disdain and as junglees (jungle dwellers). Tribals have always been exploited by officials, contractors, traders and politicians," he told Outlook. Swain is currently in Orissa to write a book on displacement of people by industrial projects. "What is of prime importance here is the need to understand that for a tribal or a poor farmer, merely providing compensation for the land taken away is not enough. For him, loss of land is loss of livelihood. So he has to be provided with an alternative livelihood. The government and the industry coming up on his land are duty-bound to provide that."
Given the decades of apathy and exploitation, it is not surprising that the tribals have risen in revolt now. Interestingly, says Swain, the entry of both the ultra-left and ultra-right groups into tribal territory has hastened this revolt. "The Maoists have catalysed unity among the tribals while the Hindu fundamentalist organisations have opened the doors to the outside world," he explains. But the revolts that have flared up like bush fires all over Orissa could spell doom for the state that's banking heavily on rapid industrialisation to come out of the red. Two-time Lok Sabha MP Salkhan Murmu, who is chief convenor of the Adivasi Adhikar Morcha of neighbouring Jharkhand, has this advice to offer: "The Orissa government needs to be sincere on the welfare of tribals and should feel for them. I would advise it to listen to the tribals; no government does that and tribals are ignored on all matters that have a bearing on their lives." That's a line that Orissa, as well as other states on going in for industrialisation, can ignore only at their own peril.
