The policy makers should keep in mind the grass root ground realities – By Ipshita SonI . @NARENDRAMODI @ARVINDKEJRIWAL
The policy makers should keep in mind the grass root ground realities
By Ipshita Soni
Social Impact Assessment (SIA) is a process of accessing Social Impacts which are likely to transpire after implementing a particular project or proposal in advance. The SIA throws quite an important aspect such as impacts on social, economic, religion, cultural, infrastructural, environmental systems and potential consequences of all these impacts etc. out in the open. These planned developments and interventions lead to many changes ranging from social, economic, cultural, environmental, and communal and so on.
However, not all the projects cause similar impacts. The ongoing dislocation of people for land requirements has been a greater issue. The tribal’s seem to be the most affected losing their basic requirement for the fulfillment of our needs.
The National R&R Policy (2007) clearly recognizes the call to carry out SIA as part of the resettlement planning and process. Being a student of sociology, I recognize the fact that these R&R Policies do not have similar implementation as stated on paper. The understanding of the social consequences should be wider, realizing that most of them are to satisfy electoral/commercial interests.
Although area specific planning is undertaken but this is not done at the ground root level and also not keeping in view the socio-economic aspect of the area, resulting in over-rides of the needs of farmers and local small scale industries. Whereas the farmers and local small scale industries should be given sufficient space to perform at their very best, they in most of cases are being ignored to appease a particular group of people.
We being the country with-holding the second largest population should be more focused on developmental aspects of the country as a whole instead of just focusing on one part of the whole. Further, in case of industry, the focus of the capitalist’s is on mechanization, whereas the focus should be on the employment of the population that resides our country. The intention of utilizing the labour power should be given preference in order to have a more salient economy. Often the local knowledge is over-ridden by that of the more westernized one.
The development planning is not women centric in nature. The diverse existence, the cultural and regional diversities are not considered while undertaking these decisions. The planners are seldom unaware of the ground reality, there is, hence, a call for in-depth grass root knowledge of the area/sector under consideration. The intent of the planners should be looked through a more rational course of action instead of glancing at the raw juncture.
Being an agricultural economy, our country is not in a state to lose anymore agricultural land to big shot industries. The continuous loss of environmental habitat, land as a whole is putting a negative impact on our social cycle. Therefore, the policy makers should keep in mind the grass root ground realities so as to maintain this social cycle of ours integral.
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