A/HRC/34/51/Add.1 D. Landlessness and displacement in rural areas 47. According to the 2011 census, about 56 per cent of households living in rural areas do not own land. 36 The Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act of 2006 recognizes forest-dwellers’ rights to land title and its use as a collective right, and prohibits evictions without adequate rehabilitation and compensation. The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act of 2013 requires social and environmental impact assessments prior to acquisitions and that rehabilitation and resettlement of affected households are ensured in case of eviction. 48. The Special Rapporteur was told that despite those laws, displacement caused by infrastructure projects, such as dams, and by the work of extractive industries was a frequent occurrence. 37 Indeed, while accounting for only 8 per cent of the population of India, a disproportionate number of displacements appear to involve persons belonging to scheduled tribes. 49. The construction of large-scale dams and megaprojects has resulted in millions of displaced and landless people, many of whom remain in rural areas. One such project that has been of concern to the Special Rapporteur is the Mapithel Dam in Manipur.38 In 2009, the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples urged the Government to seek free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples, followed by a call to ensure that the rehabilitation and resettlement of the villagers concerned be pursued only insofar as a strict and detailed human rights impact assessment was undertaken. 50. The hardship caused by large dam construction across India cannot be underestimated, especially for scheduled tribes, for whom their land is a home, a way of living and relating as a community, and of preserving culture, language and livelihood. Flooding entire villages and forest areas has a severe impact on their rights to life and to housing, and given the persistence with which it seems to happen on scheduled tribes’ lands, it may also be indicative of discriminatory policies and practices. 51. The majority of people forced out of rural areas or ancestral lands have little choice but to go to urban centres where, as newcomers, they find themselves living in dire conditions and inadequately housed. Unsurprisingly, in 2012, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development reported that only a third of persons displaced owing to planned development had been resettled. 39 52. According to the 2014 report of the High-level Committee on the socioeconomic, health and educational status of tribal communities in India, the exercise of “eminent domain” and the definition of “public purpose”, which are used by the Government to legitimize land alienation for development and public infrastructure projects, should be severely limited in tribal areas.40 That would play a key role in addressing displacement, 36 37 38 39 40 See http://censusindia.gov.in/default.aspx. Norwegian Refugee Council and Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, “Pushed Aside: displaced for ‘development’ in India” (July 2016). Available from www.internaldisplacement.org/assets/publications/2016/201607-ap-india-pushed-aside-en.pdf. A/HRC/30/27, p. 18. See also A/HRC/12/34/Add.1, paras. 161-172. See India, Ministry of Rural Development, Department of Land Resources, “The Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011: thirty-first report”, para. 3.10. Available from http://dolr.nic.in/dolr/downloads/pdfs/Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill 2011 SC(RD)’s 31st Report.pdf. See www.kractivist.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Tribal-Committee-Report-May-June-2014.pdf. 13