The philosophy (vedanta being the closest Sanskrit word for it) behind the Union government’s decision not to permit bauxite mining in the Niyamgiri hills region of Orissa by the mining company Vedanta Resources is impeccable. The company has been found to flout the laws of the land, so to speak, and must, therefore, be punished. The company did not adhere to the letter and spirit of the Forest Rights Act. The company has also been issued a show-cause notice regarding its alleged non-adherence to the Environment Protection Act in the case of the Lanjigarh refinery. The government has done well to insist that even the biggest of businesses must adhere to the law of the land. No one is above law. It would, of course, be helpful, from the viewpoint of upholding law, that the government also identify all such officials and agencies of its own that have erred and enabled the company to function with impunity till now. The Union Minister for Environment and Forests, Jairam Ramesh, has assured that there will be no “witch-hunting” and has given a clean chit to state government officials, declaring that they “were acting to the best of their ability and with the best of intentions”. Says who? Surely, no firm could have violated the law of the land and got away for so long without official complicity? Mr Ramesh’s selective allegiance to law and procedure can raise doubts whether the Union government’s decision was based purely on governance criteria or there is some politics in this. More to the point, the government should show similar commitment to implementing laws and punishing law-breakers across the board. If that is done retrospectively, however, India may well become an industrial wasteland, considering how much of Indian industry has thrived in the manner that Vedanta thought was par for the course.
One does not have to go very far from Lutyens’ Delhi in search of lawbreakers when it comes to land use. Farmhouses around Delhi are a good place to start! But one must eschew such cynicism and look at the positive side of such policy decisions as the minister has taken. There is no denying that the rights and interests of tribals have been trampled upon and environmental considerations ignored in the name of development. India needs a balanced approach to questions of development and displacement. As a resources-deficient economy, which India is on a per capita basis, and as an ancient land with every square mile of land holding some cultural significance for someone or the other, the country needs a policy framework and political consensus to balance the interests of all peoples, including those who seek employment from new developmental projects.
For its part, Vedanta should learn the appropriate lessons from this episode. It is instructive to note that so few of the local people came out in support of the company’s plans. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is not just a public-relations activity, nor just one more administrative responsibility of managers. CSR has to be a means by which firms build long-term relations with all stakeholders. If Vedanta had done its CSR properly, it could have got local people marching in its support. The very fact that this did not happen shows that the firm did not strike roots in the soil it was mining.
