Where Is Justice?: Displaced PeopleS Voices From Odisha

Based On A Series Of Public Hearings On Displacement In Odisha Held Between 2018 And 2020 Across Towns Near Major Industrial And Infrastructural Projects, This Volume Presents Analytical Documentation Of PeopleS Voices, Sharing Their Experiences, Grievances, And Demands Expressed Before An Independent Jury Of Experts, Activists, And Human Rights Defenders. They Reveal Long- Pending, Unfulfilled Assurances Of Rehabilitation And Compensation From The Large National Projects Such As Hirakud Dam And Rourkela Steel Plant, People Being Displaced Multiple Times And Unimaginable Hardships Faced By The Displaced, Mostly Adivasis In Many Projects. Many New Projects Follow The Same Logic With Similar Consequences Despite Several Legal Guarantees During The Past Decade. Besides Being Testimonies Given In A Democratic Space, The Book Critically Engages With Three Intensifying Trends In Contemporary India And Odisha: The Expansion Of Large-Scale Projects Causing Displacement And Environmental Destruction, The Erosion Of Democratic And Participatory Governance, And The Criminalization Of Dissent In A Fast Shrinking Civic Space. Through Firsthand Narratives, Expert Observations, And Case Analyses, This Report Exposes The Human Cost Of Development And Highlights The Urgent Need For Justice-Oriented Policies That Respect Constitutional Rights, Environmental Sustainability, And The Dignity Of Marginalized Communities. For That Purpose, It Makes A Fervent Plea For A Statutory National Commission For The Rights Of The Displaced.