Abstract
Land acquisition and grabbing remain the central means of dispossession in neoliberal India, affecting every section of society, but disproportionally. This paper attempts to explore the socio-economic impacts of land acquisition on landless Dalits and backward-caste communities in Haryana. The people affected by the Industrial Model Township (IMT), Rohtak, are taken as the case study to understand the larger implications of land acquisition on the life and livelihood of marginalised communities. Issues such as occupational shifts, changes and challenges arise in livelihood, exclusion and marginalisation in the whole process and in the implementation of rehabilitation and resettlement policies etc. are addressed. Drawing insights from extensive field data, this paper critically examines how the development process failed to recognise the pain and concern of these communities despite being equally dispossessed.
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