20,000 Narmada dam oustee families "not calculated" as project affected, just 50 resettled in Madhya Pradesh

By A Representative
Top social activist Medha Patkar has accused the Madhya Pradesh government of “constantly fudging” the backwater level data (click HERE) of the submergence zone of the Narmada dam, thereby keeping approximately 20,000 project affected families (PAFs) out of the number of beneficiaries.
Calculating the outees without any “scientific and legal” basis, Patkar says, “The government has denied them their due resettlement and rehabilitation (R&R) share – initially 4,374 PAFs and then another 15,900 PAFs.”
Pointing out that in three decades of struggle, the NBA “succeeded” in ensuring land to 14,000 oustees – Adivasis, Dalit farmers and their families in Gujarat and Maharashtra – the petition says, “But Madhya Pradesh is a different story; only 40 to 50 displaced families have been allotted land.”
Asserting this in an online petition, Patkar says, “Villages that lie in the submergence zone are full of life and activity with its houses, panchayats, temples, mosques, shops, markets and lakhs of trees which cannot be submerged without proper resettlement violating the Narmada Water Dispute Tribunal and Supreme Court judgments of 1992, 2000 and 2005.”
The petition, which is proposed to be sent to Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan, simultaneously asks Prime Minister Narendra Modi to first ensure completion of R&R of all Narmada dam oustees – whose number she estimates to be a whopping 40,000 – even as asking the Gujarat government to “stop construction of the dam” till then.
The petition asks Chauhan “to make public the Jha Commission report on corruption in land distribution to the Narmada dam oustees public, and send the guilty officials to jail.”
Pointing out that the organization she heads, Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), has “challenged the government’s false affidavits on the question of complete R&R and exposed the massive corruption involved in the process”, Patkar says, “Through our petition, the Madhya Pradesh High Court constituted a Commission of Enquiry under Justice SS Jha.”
She adds, “The Jha Commission submitted its report after nearly seven years of detailed hearings into cases of corruption involving influential people and accepted the massive fraud to tune of Rs 1,000 crore.”
Objecting to the NBA being denied access to the report, the petition says, “The State of Madhya Pradesh has challenged our access to this report of enquiry in the courts citing privilege of the State Assembly.”
Recalling that there has been a massive protest against failure to rehabilitate dam oustees, Patkar says, “From April 27 to 29, thousands gathered in Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh in a ‘Chetavani Upwas’ with a set of demands for the state and the Centre. Solidarity actions were held in Hyderabad, Bhubaneshwar, Delhi, Bihar, Jharkhand and other places.”
Asking the signatories to also write directly to the Prime Minister of India and Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, pressing for the demands, the petition insists on organizing “solidarity actions, programmes, discussions wherever you are, schools, colleges, streets, villages, cities and so on.”
“Take to social media, post solidarity messages, postcards, memes, or whatever it takes to create the buzz and pressure on authorities to act”, the petition says, adding, “The NBA has survived on the support and cooperation from the people and in future. It has been three long struggle filled decades since the people of the Narmada valley have been non-violently opposing the Sardar Sarovar Dam.”
---
Click HERE for online petition

Comments

Gujarat minority rights group seeks suspension of Botad police officials for brutal assault on minor

By A Representative A human rights group, the Minority Coordination Committee (MCC) Gujarat, has written to the Director General of Police (DGP), Gandhinagar, demanding the immediate suspension and criminal action against police personnel of Botad police station for allegedly brutally assaulting a minor boy from the Muslim community.

On Teachers’ Day, remembering Mother Teresa as the teacher of compassion

By Fr. Cedric Prakash SJ It is Teachers’ Day once again! Significantly, the day also marks the Feast of St. Teresa of Calcutta (still lovingly called Mother Teresa). In 2012, the United Nations, as a fitting tribute to her, declared this day the International Day of Charity. A day pregnant with meaning—one that we must celebrate as meaningfully as possible.

Targeted eviction of Bengali-speaking Muslims across Assam districts alleged

By A Representative A delegation led by prominent academic and civil rights leader Sandeep Pandey visited three districts in Assam—Goalpara, Dhubri, and Lakhimpur—between 2 and 4 September 2025 to meet families affected by recent demolitions and evictions. The delegation reported widespread displacement of Bengali-speaking Muslim communities, many of whom possess valid citizenship documents including Aadhaar, voter ID, ration cards, PAN cards, and NRC certification.

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

Gandhiji quoted as saying his anti-untouchability view has little space for inter-dining with "lower" castes

By A Representative A senior activist close to Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar has defended top Booker prize winning novelist Arundhati Roy’s controversial utterance on Gandhiji that “his doctrine of nonviolence was based on an acceptance of the most brutal social hierarchy the world has ever known, the caste system.” Surprised at the police seeking video footage and transcript of Roy’s Mahatma Ayyankali memorial lecture at the Kerala University on July 17, Nandini K Oza in a recent blog quotes from available sources to “prove” that Gandhiji indeed believed in “removal of untouchability within the caste system.”

'Govts must walk the talk on gender equality, right to health, human rights to deliver SDGs by 2030'

By A Representative With just 64 months left to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), global health and rights advocates have called upon governments to honour their commitments on gender equality and the human right to health. Speaking ahead of the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), experts warned that rising anti-rights and anti-gender pushes are threatening hard-won progress on SDG-3 (health and wellbeing) and SDG-5 (gender equality).

Is U.S. fast losing its financial and technological edge under Trump’s second tenure?

By Dr. Manoj Kumar Mishra* The United States, along with its Western European allies, once promoted globalization as a democratic force that would deliver shared prosperity and balanced growth. That promise has unraveled. Globalization, instead of building an even world, has produced one defined by inequality, asymmetry of power, and new vulnerabilities. For decades, Washington successfully turned this system to its advantage. Today, however, under Trump’s second administration, America is attempting to exploit the weaknesses of others without acknowledging how exposed it has become itself.

Bhojpuri cinema’s crisis: When popularity becomes an excuse for vulgarity

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Bhojpuri cinema is expanding rapidly. Songs from new films are eagerly awaited, and the industry is hailed for its booming business. Yet, big money and mass popularity do not automatically translate into quality cinema or meaningful content. The market has compelled us to celebrate numbers, even when what is being produced is deeply troubling.

What mainstream economists won’t tell you about Chinese modernisation

By Shiran Illanperuma China’s modernisation has been one of the most remarkable processes of the 21st century and one that has sparked endless academic debate. Meng Jie (孟捷), a distinguished professor from the School of Marxism at Fudan University in Shanghai, has spent the better part of his career unpacking this process to better understand what has taken place.

Counterview

Search This Blog