Bretton Woods Project - Critical voices on the World Bank and IMF

Jump to main content | Jump to sidebar | Jump to navigation menu



Coal India: Bank Board demands minimal action

News|Bretton Woods Project|8 September 2003|update 36|url
print|email |bookmark FacebookTweet thisdel.icio.usDigg!Stumble UponRedditGoogle BookmarksYahoo Buzz

On 22 July the World Bank Board discussed the critical Inspection Panel report on the Coal India project. It decided that the Bank should continue supervising the project as long as necessary to ensure that the outstanding issues relating to resettlement and environment are "substantially resolved", and should report within 12 months on issues identified by the Panel. The Board, however, accepted Management's contention that nearly 90 per cent of project affected people have improved or restored their incomes. This despite concerns about the way these statistics were produced. For example local peoples' use of forest products was overlooked in the baseline surveys.

Bank management did concede that it violated Bank policies on consultation, disclosure and resettlement. Faults were admitted in relation to land compensation, the recognition of traditional land rights, on loss of access to forest products, income restoration schemes and subsistence allowances. Richard Harkinson of Minewatch, a UK-based activist group, has demanded the release of more complete minutes of the Board meeting "to show the details of what remedial action was demanded". He complains that the Bank's Board appears to have accepted the arguments of Bank management too easily and not taken adequate action given the seriousness of the findings by its own Inspection Panel. Minewatch concludes: "without action on mined land reclamation, economic rehabilitation cannot be sustainable and the displaced indigenous people will subsidise the mainstream Indian economy and Bank loan and credit repayments through their involuntary sacrifices".

Published: 8 September 2003 , last edited: 12 February 2009

Viewings since posted: 5207

Articles: 3365

Advanced article search
Search newswire and resources

Επίκεντρο η Ελλάδα (Articles in Greek)
http://www.brettonwoodsproject.org/el/
Με αφορμή την χωρίς προηγούμενο δραστηριότητα του ΔΝΤ στην Ελλάδα, το Bretton Woods Project παρέχει ορισμένα απο τα άρθρα του στα Ελληνικά.

Recent briefings & reports

Gender WDR: Limits, gaps, and fudges  8 February 2012

Time for a new consensus: Regulating financial flows for stability and development  15 December 2011

Breaking the Mould: How Latin America is coping with volatile capital flows  15 December 2011

No fairy tale: Singrauli, India, still suffering years after World Bank coal investments  18 November 2011

Climate Investment Funds Monitor: October 2011   27 October 2011

Power surge: Lessons for the World Bank from Indian women's participation in energy projects  21 September 2011

Subscribe

Bretton Woods Update, 6 emails/year:
highlights fulltext pdf
Alerts of new web content
Weekly newswire email

Email:


Bretton Woods Project on Facebook


home | subscribe | donate | search | help | contact


validate: | XHTML | CSS | RSS | 508

powered by Action Apps | hosted by GreenNet | Credits