Gond women protest dam compensation in Ken-Betwa project

Indigenous Gond women in Madhya Pradesh, India, held a symbolic “Chita Andolan” funeral pyre protest over rehabilitation compensation tied to the Ken-Betwa river-linking project, which is expected to displace about 7,000 families.

Protesters said the way payments are being issued for affected households leaves adult women without separate compensation. They argue this violates India’s 2013 land acquisition and resettlement framework and could deepen the hardship of families facing relocation.

Daudhan Dam and the settlements in its footprint

The protest is focused on the Daudhan Dam, described in the report as the central component of the Ken-Betwa river-linking project. The dam is slated to submerge 10 settlements in and around the Panna Tiger Reserve.

Residents said the prospect of submergence has already started to translate into pressure on homes and livelihoods, with demolition and relocation activity expected to widen to additional settlements as work proceeds.

Residents cite Section 3(m) of the 2013 LARR Act Women participating in the Chita Andolan said compensation is being paid mainly to male heads of households. In their account, adult women are not being treated as independent beneficiaries, even when they are adults within the same household.

Protesters pointed to Section 3(m) of the 2013 Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act (LARR). They said this provision treats every adult as a separate family unit for compensation purposes, regardless of gender, and therefore requires compensation to be issued in women’s own names where applicable.

The dispute, residents said, is not only about how much is paid but also about who is formally recognized in the rehabilitation process. They argue that excluding adult women from individual compensation conflicts with the law’s definition of the family unit.

Families say livelihoods and housing are at stake

Participants described the “Chita Andolan” as a warning about what displacement without adequate and correctly distributed compensation could mean. They said families in the area depend on agriculture and forest resources, and that losing access to land and housing would directly affect income and daily survival.

One affected resident, 50-year-old Gyan Rani Gond, said the current compensation structure was not enough to replace what her family is losing. She said one of the family’s homes had already been demolished and another was under threat.

Gond said adult women in her household had not received independent payments. “Me, my daughter, and my daughter-in-law Pooja should be compensated,” she said.

Official response and what remains uncertain

As of publication of the report, the government had not addressed the protesters’ claims about the exclusion of adult women from individual compensation.

A key uncertainty is whether officials will revise the compensation process for households in the Daudhan Dam’s footprint before demolition and relocation work expands to further settlements.