Mapping the price of development induced displacement: A study on displaced of Sariska tiger reserve in Rajasthan, India

Abstract

Development and Displacement is one of the major concern for social scientists, environmentalists and human right activist for the last three decades as it is considered as one of the major source in making vulnerable more vulnerable and a leading factor for marginalization. The spectrums of issues faced by the victims of displacement have been serious concerns for debates and worry. Every year a voluminous number of people have been displaced or forcibly being shifted from their domicile to another place without ensuring the basic aspects of resettlement and rehabilitation. Human right violations are very common in such cases and there are ample empirical evidences on the impoverishment and marginalization of the victims of displacement. Present paper is an attempt to enquire the positive and negative impacts of displacement in Alwar District of Rajasthan in India in the name of Sariska Tiger Reserve Project. Impoverishment model of Michael Cernea along with the social development indicators were assessed. A detailed comparison of pre and post displacement situation has done to examine the extent of impacts on the core areas of social development indicators. Thirty four households were surveyed along with eight case studies. The results indicate a mixture of positive and negative impacts of displacement and the negative factors are prominent as in a number of dimensions the community has impoverished. It is vivid from the present study that poor attempts have made to assess the probable impacts of displacement and people's dependency on the place and resources they were living. Further the study is a clear indicative of the pitiable rehabilitation, resettlement process and policies of India.