Numerous demonstrations in Orissa, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh have brought the issue of displacement and resettlement to front pages once again.   We invite you to join the struggle for a people-friendly, democratic Act on R&R and least displacing development model.

The Accountability Initiative is an independent effort to strengthen accountability by undertaking policy research; creating networks of stakeholders; exploring new areas and ways to collect and disseminate information on the quality of public services in India. The Initiative’s work is primarily collaborative in nature. It seeks to strengthen current accountability efforts by the government, civil society, research institutes and the media. The Center for Policy Research, New Delhi is the institutional anchor for this initiative. Recently, their team went to the Bhilwara Social Audit for NREGA.

For watchers of India’s grassroots democracy, the place to be in recently was Bhilwara in Rajasthan; the town and the countryside were decked out in carnival colours for an audit exercise that saw thousands come together — social rights activists led by Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sanghatan’s stalwart campaigners Aruna Roy and Nikhil Dey, NGOs, State government officials and Ministers, and observers from the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.