Whose Growth, Whose Sacrifice? Extractivism and Adivasi Resistance in Kashipur, Odisha

This commentary critiques the people’s movement in Kashipur as symptomatic of broader structural failures, particularly in governance practices, the absence of meaningful public consent and flawed approaches to development planning. It highlights how statutory protections for Adivasi rights, including the requirement for free, prior and informed consent via Gram Sabhas, have been undermined for extractive investments. The top-down nature of development planning favours corporate and state interests over those of local communities, exposing a democratic deficit in India’s mineral-led development strategy and questioning its legitimacy and sustainability.