Blinkered development plan bred Maoism: SC

Says Growth A Hateful Word For Millions In Cases Involving Displacing Tribals For Mining
New Delhi: In a scathing indictment of the government, the SC termed the development policies “blinkered” and said the promised rights and benefits never reached marginalised citizens fuelling discontent and giving birth to naxalism and militancy.
Referring to largescale displacement of tribals from forestland in the name of mining and development, the SC said non-settlement of their rights and non-provision for timely compensation has created the worst kind of hatred among them towards development, possibly giving birth to extremism.
“To millions of Indians, development is a dreadful and hateful word that is aimed at denying them even the source of their sustenance,” a bench said. “It is cynically said that on the path of ‘maldevelopment’ almost every step that we take seems to give rise to insurgency and political extremism which along with terrorism are supposed to be the three gravest threats to India’s integrity and sovereignty,” it said.
The anguish brimmed over when it dealt with a case relating to acquisition of tribal land by Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd in Sundergarh district of Orissa, which is a Maoist hotbed, and found that those who lost their land were not paid compensation for 23 years.
The SC raised a series of questions: “Why is the state’s perception and vision of development at such great odds with the people it purports to develop? And why are their rights so dispensable?” It said: “With the GDP of $1.16 trillion (of 2008) Indian economy is 12th largest in US dollar terms and the second fastest growing economy in the world.
But according to the Human Development Report 2009, the HDI for India is 0.612 which puts it at 134th place among 182 countries.”
It said very often the process of development starkly confirms the fears expressed by Dr Ambedkar, who had said though politically one man had one vote of equal value, in social life one continues to deny it.