19 June 2008

Bhubaneswar, State of Orissa, India: It was an opportunity that 24-year-old Biranchi Oram from Katarbaga village did not want to miss. For here was a chance to participate in a community volunteer Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R&R) training programme at the district headquarters, and also to interact with senior Government officials.

Belonging to the vulnerable community of Scheduled Tribes, due to an industrial project Biranchi and his family were about to be displaced from their ancestral land in Orissa’s western district of Sambalpur. However, taking part in the R&R training workshop not only assuaged the apprehensions of Biranchi and others, but also increased their awareness about their benefits and entitlements.  

Helping to organize these community volunteer meetings was Debendra Samal, a UNV volunteer working for the 'Capacity development to operationalize the Orissa R&R policy' project. Debendra is one of nine District Coordinators posted in various districts of Orissa. The project partners include the State Government of Orissa (GoO), UNDP, and the British Government Department for International Development (DFID).

Orissa ranks among the least-developed regions of India. The GoO has endeavoured to improve peoples' quality of life by promoting rapid industrialization and by adopting a participatory development process. However, the implementation of developmental, industrial, mining, irrigation and other projects has resulted in the large-scale displacement of people, leading to their alienation from their traditional homes and sources of livelihood.

Community volunteers often play a significant role in areas where people are displaced. Apart from generating awareness among community members, they help Government and industrial project officials conduct surveys, identify genuine grievances and supervise R&R activities in new settlements. UNV's work in Orissa was particularly geared towards getting community volunteers involved in the negotiation process.

Besides collecting significant information related to R&R, the UNV volunteers played an important part in initiating dialogue between displaced families, the district administration and project officials. Village level meetings, organized by UNV volunteers in association with district officials, not only helped generate awareness about people’s entitlements and benefits but also acted as a bridge to foster enhanced communication.

The UNV volunteer District Coordinators also contributed to making the R&R process more participatory. Along with other UNDP team members, they were also actively involved in reviewing the status of R&R projects. This meant monitoring the facilities and infrastructure provided to resettlement colonies, ensuring there were exclusive R&R departments and personnel in local administrations, and looking into grievance redressal budgets.

Until recently, a process whereby all stakeholders could talk about R&R with the district administration on a single platform hardly existed. The UNV volunteers helped organize several such meetings at the district level, and also capacity development training programmes for community volunteers and representatives of local government and NGOs.

Given the sensitivities associated with the issue, R&R must be tackled with the utmost caution and care. While some UNV volunteers, especially those posted in water resource projects, worked in sometimes inaccessible areas, others had to work in the face of protests from displaced people, while always upholding the impartiality required under the auspices of the UN.

Though the project wound up in May 2008, an extension is hoped for. Within just 10 months, the UNV District Coordinators achieved greater awareness about R&R policy, spurring increased participation of displaced people in the R&R process and placing them in a position to take more control of their situation.