Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has assured tribal communities displaced by development projects in Palghar that their long-pending rehabilitation claims will be addressed, with the government promising land records, basic infrastructure, amenities and employment opportunities for project-affected persons.
Fadnavis made the assurance while addressing a gathering in Palghar, where he handed over land records certificates to people affected by development projects. He said development would have little meaning if the original inhabitants of the land were deprived of land, jobs and a share in the benefits generated by new projects.
“The government is committed to ensuring project-affected persons receive proper rehabilitation, infrastructure, basic amenities and employment opportunities. If we make the original inhabitants of this land landless and do not give them a place in the development process, it will not be development but destruction,” Fadnavis said.
The chief minister acknowledged that families displaced by projects over the past 30 to 50 years had faced prolonged hardship, with several rehabilitation matters remaining unresolved. He said the state government had formulated new rehabilitation standards and was working to address pending cases arising from earlier policies.
The announcement places the quality of resettlement at the centre of the government’s rehabilitation approach. Fadnavis said villages where displaced residents had been resettled must have good infrastructure and all necessary facilities. He also highlighted employment as a critical component, saying that residents should not be excluded from the economic benefits created by projects in their region.
“The benefits of development projects should not go only to people from outside the region. Residents must also get jobs and a share in the prosperity generated by such projects,” he said.
The assurances cover a long-running institutional challenge in project-affected areas: rehabilitation is not limited to shifting families from one location to another, but also involves securing land records, housing or settlement facilities, public infrastructure and access to livelihoods. The chief minister’s remarks indicated that the state’s new standards are intended to address these wider requirements, although the government did not provide details on the standards, timelines or the number of pending cases.
Fadnavis said the Maharashtra government had set a goal of making Palghar one of the state’s five most developed districts. He said that target could not be achieved without including tribals, poor residents, farmers, agricultural labourers and women in the development process.
He also referred to the hardships faced by families relocated decades ago, saying that many had effectively been left without adequate facilities. Residents of Hanuman Nagar and Chandra Nagar were separately assured that the government would work to improve their conditions.
The chief minister’s statement did not specify a project-wise implementation schedule or identify the departments responsible for resolving individual rehabilitation claims. The next steps will depend on how the new rehabilitation standards are applied to older cases and whether resettled villages receive the infrastructure, amenities and employment access promised by the government.
