NEW DELHI: Union Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz on Monday submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh the report of the Shunglu Oversight Group on rehabilitation of Narmada dam-affected families in Madhya Pradesh. Earlier during the day, the Minister received the report from the Group headed by former Comptroller and Auditor-General V.K. Shunglu. Panel members G. K. Chadha and Jaiprakash Narayan accompanied him.

After submitting the report Mr. Soz said the Prime Minister had fulfilled his assurance to the Supreme Court that the Oversight Group would go into the issue of rehabilitation and give its report in three months. "The report has come. Now it is for the court to assess it and pass appropriate orders."

It is understood that even as the group largely upholds the claims made by Madhya Pradesh in its Action taken Report (ATR) on the number (18,000) of affected families, it has found deficiencies in the rehabilitation and resettlement of the families, particularly in the lack of infrastructure and poor quality or dysfunctional facilities at rehabilitation sites.

The panel also went into the 4,000 grievances pending with the Grievance Redressal Agency. It has reportedly suggested that the State should complete the process of rehabilitation within a year.

This contradicts the commitment given by the State to the Narmada Control Authority (NCA) for completing the rehabilitation of families displaced up to the dam height of 121.92 metres before July 2006. It is also against the Narmada award and the Supreme Court order that says that rehabilitation should be completed six months in advance of raising the height of the dam. Sources said the dam had been built up to 119 metres so far.

Significantly, the Group is understood to have defended the payment of cash compensation to displaced families in place of land under the Special Relief Package, whereas even the Supreme Court has held that it was a "disputed matter." Rather than advising the State to fulfil its obligations on "land-for-land," the group is reported to have shown that eligible families were accepting cash as the government was unable to procure land for them or the process was besieged with corruption.

The group is reported to have said that there should be a proper action plan and mechanism for rehabilitation and the district authorities should also be involved in the rehabilitation of the displaced population. The issue of validation by the gram sabhas does not seem to have been seriously addressed by the group.

Speaking to The Hindu after the submission of the report, Dr. Chadha said the exhaustive report included the findings of the National Sample Survey Organisation and the subsequent random survey.

"After it is submitted in the court it would be put on the website."

The Prime Minister had set up the Oversight Group after a meeting of the political-level Review Committee of the Narmada Control Authority (RCNCA) failed to reach an agreement on endorsing the decision of the official-level NCA to raise the height of the dam.

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