Assessing the Social Impact of Development Projects

Hari Mohan Mathur is Visiting Professor, Council for Social Development, New Delhi. Earlier, as a member of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), he has held senior positions in the Government of India, as well as in the State of Rajasthan, including as Chief Secretary to the Government of Rajasthan. In addition, Dr Mathur has been Vice-Chancellor of the University of Rajasthan. He has also worked for the United Nations, World Bank and ADB as staff member and consultant on Development Management and Involuntary Resettlement issues. He has served as Development Administration Specialist at the UN Asian and Pacific Development Centre, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and was United Nations Adviser to the Government of Uganda in Kampala. In addition, Dr Mathur has been staff consultant to several other UN organizations, including World Bank, ADB, FAO, UNDP, UNDTCD, UNESCAP, and UNESCO.

• The Framework.- Social Impact Assessment for Projects that Involve Displacement and Resettlement.- Social Impacts and Impoverishment Risks in Development Projects: Pre-emptive Planning and Counter-Risk Measures.- Integrating SIA into Resettlement Planning: An Example from Mineral Mining Projects.-  Policy and Practice of SIA in India.- SIA Policy and Legal Framework in India.- Building Dams, Ignoring People: The Lower Suktel Irrigation Dam Project.- The Consequences of Inadequate Assessments: Issues in Re-housing People Displaced by the Mumbai Urban Transport Project.- SIA: Bringing in the Gender Perspective.- Assessing the Social Impact of Development Projects on Tribal Communities.- SIA Experience in Neighboring Countries.- Social Impact Assessment in China and Beyond.- Integrating Social Impact Dimensions in Project Planning.- Examples from Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.- Rebuilding Livelihoods: The Income Restoration Strategy for the People Displaced by a Transport Project in Sri Lanka.- Mitigating Adverse Social Impacts.- Resettlement Planning: Managing the Displacement Effects of Development Projects.

"The aims of this book include discussing the complex relationships among physical landscapes, natural resources, and their modification by human land use in various Asian environments. ... This publication is a useful resource for governments, multilateral development agencies, policymakers, development planners, practitioners, researchers, trainers, environmentalists, social scientists, consultants, academic activists and others who are increasingly beginning to see SIA as a tool for planning better development." (Lina Maria Rosales, E&U Environment & Urbanization, environmentandurbanization.org, January, 2016)