Development, Displacement and Relocation: A Study of Jaipur Rail Metro Project

The rapid expansion and new breakthroughs in the arena of development have taken humankind into a new age. The development process has, on the one hand, eased out human life, but on the other, has imposed suffering on a few sections of society. One of the greatest costs of the development process has been the involuntary displacement of millions of vulnerable people. Development brings with it not just physical displacement and relocation but also reduces the quality of life of the affected to sub-human conditions affecting their lives in entirety. The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 directs acquisition of land and frames the procedures to be followed for granting compensation, rehabilitation, and resettlement to the persons affected or displaced due to development. Scudder-Colson points out that relocation, voluntary or involuntary, induces an experience of stress. Community members facing transition responded in familiar and broadly similar manner because the pressure of relocation limits the coping mechanism of the affected people. Even though the government provides comfortable rehabilitation to the affected population, very little attention is paid to the psycho-social consequences associated with the process. The paper is based on the primary study conducted on the people displaced due to Jaipur Metro Project. It studies how forced shift affects the adjustment of diverse socio-economic population and analyses the changes in lifestyle, social network, community bonds and family relations during the period of transition.