Centre passes buck to M.P. govt. over tribals’ displacement due to Ken-Betwa project
The Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs has deferred responsibility to the Madhya Pradesh government regarding displacement complaints linked to the Ken-Betwa river project. Local tribal communities continue to protest alleged irregularities in compensation and eviction processes.
Why it matters
This highlights the ongoing tension between large-scale infrastructure development and the protection of indigenous land and forest rights in India.
The Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs on Thursday (August 6, 2026) acknowledged in Parliament that it had received several complaints about “issues of displacement” in Madhya Pradesh owing to the Ken-Betwa river linking project but that it had sent all of these complaints to the Madhya Pradesh government and district authorities, saying the State government was responsible for implementing the forest rights law.
This comes even as locals and tribal communities in the State’s Chhatarpur district have been protesting against the project for months, accusing authorities of forcibly evicting families even before the full compensation process has been completed, alleging irregularities in the process for Gram Sabha consent and selection of beneficiaries for compensation, and demanding that each adult be considered a unit for compensation as opposed to a family.
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