NEW DELHI: A team of academicians which visited the Narmada valley in Madhya Pradesh has recommended that a joint task force comprising representatives of the Central and State Governments, gram sabhas and civil society be set up to go into rehabilitation of the dam-displaced families.

The team comprised Kamal Mitra Chenoy of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Prodipto Roy of the Jharkhand-based Asoka Foundation, Dilip Kumar Debak and Archana Sinha of the Indian Social Institute and Joya Roy of Institute of Social Sciences.

In its report released at a press conference here on Friday, the team recommended that all land be integrated into a master plan to facilitate a scientific and consistent decision on resettlement.

Unless all affected families received their full entitlements, including land, dam construction should not be allowed.

The team alleged that the Shunglu Oversight Group did not do the kind of sampling that it was required to do. Instead, people were asked to respond to the Madhya Pradesh Government's Action Taken Report.

Thorny issue

The Special Relief Package (cash compensation) was a "thorny issue".

"As the Oversight Group, despite the services of the National Sample Survey Organisation, did not extensively circulate a questionnaire on this issue, it was bound to be biased by officialdom with which it was regularly in contact, with less sympathy for people with whom it had much less contact."

People were being told that they had no alternative to accepting cash compensation, "which is against the award and Supreme Court decisions.''

The team visited eight affected villages and six rehabilitation and resettlement sites in Badwani, Dhar and Jhabua from June 24 to 29.

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