Introduction
Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R&R) Plan forms a part of the Environmental Impact Assessment and Management Plan Reports (EIA and EMP) and is assessed and approved by the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) for according Environmental Clearance to the project. The R&R Plan for project affected families for ongoing projects has been prepared based on National Policy for Rehabilitation and Resettlement, 2003 and as per National Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy, 2007 (NRRP-2007). For new and upcoming projects, the provisions of the R&R Plan would be according to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 and its amendments which come from time to time. The R&R Plan is implemented in association with the concerned State Government, representatives from project affected families and other stakeholders in the area. Considering the plight of those who have sacrificed their resources for the larger benefit of the society, ways and means has to be explored and implemented to protect their rights in general and the rights of vulnerable sections in particular, as an attempt towards sustainable developments. In the process, NEEPCO explores various viable alternatives and select the one causing least displacement or adverse impacts. Therefore, a detailed socio-economic survey is conducted before formulation of R&R Plan for the project affected families (PAFs) so as to assess the socio-economic and socio-cultural set-up of the affected families and local people. In future, in addition to Socio-economic aspects, a separate chapter on socio-cultural aspects based on study on Ethnography of the area will be included. For effective implementation & monitoring of R&R Plan of a project, NEEPCO in consultation with the concerned State Government forms a Project R&R Committee headed by Administrator for R&R (rank of District Collector of the concerned State Government) and Head of the Project being the Member Secretary of the committee.