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 Information Commission issues warning against misinterpretation of RTI orders

By A Representative The Gujarat Information Commission (GIC) has issued a press note clarifying that its orders limiting the number of Right to Information (RTI) applications for certain individuals apply only to those specific applicants. The GIC has warned that it will take disciplinary action against any public officials who misinterpret these orders to deny information to other citizens. The press note, signed by GIC Secretary Jaideep Dwivedi, states that the Right to Information Act, 2005, is a powerful tool for promoting transparency and accountability in public administration. However, the commission has observed that some applicants are misusing the act by filing an excessive number of applications, which disproportionately consumes the time and resources of Public Information Officers (PIOs), First Appellate Authorities (FAAs), and the commission itself. This misuse can cause delays for genuine applicants seeking justice. In response to this issue, and in acc...

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.

'MGNREGA crisis deepening': NSM demands fair wages and end to digital exclusions

By A Representative The NREGA Sangharsh Morcha (NSM), a coalition of independent unions of MGNREGA workers, has warned that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is facing a “severe crisis” due to persistent neglect and restrictive measures imposed by the Union Government.

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.”

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.

'Centre criminally negligent': SKM demands national disaster declaration in flood-hit states

By A Representative The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) has urged the Centre to immediately declare the recent floods and landslides in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, and Haryana as a national disaster, warning that the delay in doing so has deepened the suffering of the affected population.

Saffron Kingdom – a cinematic counter-narrative to The Kashmir Files

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* “Saffron Kingdom” is a film produced in the United States by members of the Kashmiri diaspora, positioned as a response to the 2022 release “The Kashmir Files.” While the latter focused on the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits and framed Kashmiri Muslims as perpetrators of violence, “Saffron Kingdom” seeks to present an alternate perspective—highlighting the experiences of Kashmiri Muslims facing alleged abuses by Indian security forces.

From lazy to lost? The myths and realities behind generational panic about youth

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak Older generations in many societies often describe the young with labels such as “lazy, unproductive, lost, anxious, depoliticised, unpatriotic or wayward.” Others see them as “social media, mobile phone and porn addicts.” Such judgments arise from a generational anxiety rooted in fears of losing control and from distorted perceptions about youth, especially in the context of economic crises, conflicts, and wars in which many young lives are lost.

'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).

Counterview

Search This Blog