Commons for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs): Excluded from Policy

Abstract

"Almost half of the displaced persons in India are tribals, most of whom are located in the natural resource-rich dryland and rain-fed areas of central Indian tribal belt and in North- Eastern region. Apart from loosing private properties, IDPs also lose access to common property resources. Commons are prime providers of food, especially for fodder and fuel wood in these areas. Small and marginal farmers and agricultural laborers are more dependent upon commons for their redistributive role. Common also add to social stickiness of communities leading to stronger social ties among them. Security of livelihoods is an important guiding principle for rehabilitation policies. The assessment of impact of displacement as stated in the rehabilitation bill (2007) includes assessment of Commons from livelihood perspective. However, the provisions for resettlement, in the bill, do not accommodate Commons as a part of compensation. In absence of any specific policy, the case for conflict-induced IDPs is even worse. Moreover, as the institutions around commons are locally embedded, they cannot be created in absence of an enabling policy framework for communities. Similarly, the access to commons of indigenous population as against IDPs is also an ambiguous area. National policies on most of the natural resources deal with the state and private control only, augmenting to the neglect of significance of Commons in all other development policies, including one for IDPs. The IFAD framework for sustainable livelihood examines the livelihood of poor by linking different elements like assets, vulnerabilities, policies etc., within a context. It examines the linkages between ‘service delivery agencies’ like institutional arrangement for commons and ‘enabling agencies’ like policy-making bodies, on livelihoods. IFAD framework can bring out the criticality of commons for IDPs. An analysis of current situations and legal-policy frameworks for resettlement in select states will help to bring out the lacunae in given agro-ecological and social contexts."