A late realization of an obvious fact is always suspect. While it is a relief to discover that the government, any government, can ultimately come to the conclusion that a token price and promises of jobs are not enough to compensate people for depriving them of their traditional land and livelihood, it must also be asked what led to this remarkable illumination. Protests of local tribal people against the building of a steel plant in Kalinganagar in Orissa had killed 13 earlier this year, although the bloodshed came after six months of appeals and hunger strikes to which the authorities were deaf and blind. In Orissa, many communities have known years of displacement, years without compensation or very little of it, years of promises unfulfilled. So this is not new. Neither is the more recent explosion of protest in Gangavaram near Visakhapatnam surprising: a number of fishing hamlets were supposed to have been emptied for a port to be built by a private company. Buying land cheap from its rightful owners and creating forms of prosperity that exclude them have been usual practices, so that even development projects leave people wondering who the development is for. Only by deliberately ignoring the basic rights of segments of the population is this possible.

Casual displacement is only one sign of this ignoring of rights. The build-up of resentment has taken years, but the Maoist involvement in underdeveloped tribal areas has given it an extra edge. It would be interesting to know whether this last has been instrumental in the proposal for the Central legislation that would allow tribal villages to vote on rehabilitation packages for vacating land for Central projects. The emphasis would be on land in exchange, rather than just cash or jobs. A fisherman in Ganagavaram wants water: it is the loss of traditional livelihoods that is irreplaceable. Development cannot or should not be stopped, but protection and development for those who have preserved the environment for generations and are part of it should be a priority. The proposed legislation is truly welcome, as is the suggestion that states should evolve similar laws. Late though it is, the law could begin to make a difference to tribal lives. But only if there is a political will behind it. Cheating the poor has become part of Indian culture; maybe the poor will now refuse to be cheated.