http://JUDIS.NIC.IN SUPREME COURT OF INDIA the aid, asistance and finances provided by the States, Central Goverment and the World Bank is allowed to progress and be completed strictly on fulfillment of the conditions on which environmental clearance was granted. 2. Rehabilitation aspect The Ministry of Environment and Forests has filed an affidavit before us showing the present position of progress in resettlement and rehabilitation activities undertaken as part of fullfillment of the conditional clearance of the project. It may be recalled that the Ministry of Welfare of Government of India in the year 1985 initiated a Rehabilitation Policy. It came to be approved only in the year 1997. Thus the National policy, Packages and Guidelines for resettlement and rehabilitation accept the following principles :1. Displacement should be minimised. So people displacing projects should be the last option after studying non-displacing and least displacing projects, and if this is the only alternative. 2. The public purpose based on which people are displaced or otherwise deprived of their livelihood should be defined. Prior informed consent to be affected by it should be mandatory after the project is explained to them and if they see that is according to the public purpose thus defined properly. 3. Replacement value to be the norm for compensation, against the present norm of market value which is totally inadequate. 4. Right to life with dignity enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution should be respected. So, the displaced persons should have a better lifestyle after displacement than before it because they are paying the price of national development. 5. Displaced Persons (DPs/PAPs) should be the first beneficiaries of any project. 6. Rehabilitation is mandatory and should go on side by side with the project. 7. Land for land is recommended to all and is mandatory for tribals. Compensation is to be provided for common property resources and forest lands that may be acquired from their dependants. 8. The DPs/PAPs are defined in a way as to include not only land onwers but also those who depend on it without owning it, and those who have common property resources as their sustenance. This Court in the case of Karjan Jalasay Yojana Assargrasth Shakhar Ane Snagharsh Samiti v. State of Gujarat, AIR (1987) SC 532 has held thus: "Simultaneously with taking possession of the acquired land from any person in occupation of it, such person shall be provided either alternative land of equal quality but not exceeding three acres in area and if that is not possible, then alternative employment where he woud be assured a minimum wage......No possession of any part of the acquired land shall be taken from any person unless and until he is either provided with alternative land or alternative employment which is not temporary in character so that he and the members of his family do not remain without means of subsistance... if for any reason the State Government is not able to provide alternative land or arrange for alternative employment, the State Government will subject to the same exception, pay to the head of the family at the latter place of residence compensation equivalent to minimum wage every fortnight during the period alternative land or employment is not provided." The above directions of this Court in the case of Karjan Jalasay (supra) Page 35 of 37

Select target paragraph3

Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents