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Social Impact Assessment

Background

• Social Impact Assessment includes the processes of analyzing, monitoring and managing the
intended and unintended social consequences, of planned interventions (policies, programs,
plans, projects) and any social change processes invoked by those interventions.
• SIA is an instrument meant to assess the positive and negative impacts of the project and also to
assess whether the objectives of the proposed project could not be achieved in some other
manner, especially by acquiring significantly less fertile, multi-cropped land, a crucial
requirement of national food security
• It is scientific measurement of the projects impact on whole society at large generally and the
local people displaced or suffered due to project specifically.
• It measures positive, negative long term and short term impact on society.
• In this a major input is taken from local people and considering the social risks at large.
• it tries to bring more inclusive, sustainable biophysical and human development

SIA includes the following steps:

1. i) Defining the Impact Area,

2. ii) Indentify data requirement and their source,
3. iii) Involve all affected stakeholders,
4. iv) Conduct Screening,
5. v) Carry out scoping in the field,
6. vi) Prepare soci-economic profile,
7. vii) Survey the host population,
8. viii) Identify and assess the impact,
9. ix) Develop mitigation plan.

Principles of SIA:

• i) Involve the diverse public,

• ii) Analyse impact,
• iii) Focus on assessment,
• iv) Identify method and assumptions,
• v) Provide feedback to project planner,
• vi) Use professionals,
• vii) Start monitoring and mitigation program.

Relevance of SIA:

• SIA was at the heart of 2013 LARR law

• of the over 60,000 hectares of land acquired for Special Economic Zones (SEZs), from 2006 to
2013, around 53 per cent has not been put to any use
• 1. Increase legitimacy of acquisition.
• 2. Provide feedback.
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• 3. Better inclusive Growth of society and area particularly.

• 4. R&R will be better.
• It is also a way of making sure that land acquisition is not an easy way for the real estate mafia
to make a quick buck in the name of development.
• It is an attempt to restore the declining faith in the democratic process, by reaching out to
those who believe all decisions affecting their lives are made in distant, uncaring corridors of
power, leaving them without any say
• It is a powerful means of conflict prevention by taking local communities on board and making
them integral partners in development.

Way ahead

• SIA should not be made compulsory and a positive exclusion can be made of class of projects
excluded from it e.g. Security, Defence, Public purpose project with legally defined definition
of what counts as Public Purpose like Metro project, mining etc.
• But exclusion should be as minimum as possible because ours is a Democratic country and social
impact assessment report serves the purpose of acceptance of it by people.
• Proper rehabilitation and resettlement plans are needed to be placed in with an independent
regulator to ensure it.
• Options like land Pooling model of Gujarat is a well tested model and if possible should be
used in implementation.
• society welfare need to be balanced with speedy implementation of developmental projects.

Other septs can be taken

• 1. Computerisation of all land records

• 2. Having a database of all wastelands so that developmetal projects can be preferred over
there. However, this is not always feasible.
• 3. Roping in professional expertise so that they can apply their Wisdom in balancing the two
acts.
• 4. Adequate and timely compensation and rehabilitation so that they don't get trapped in the
cycle of deprivation and Poverty.

Comparing SIA and EIA

• Both require Identification of impact area, data collection, analysis, mitigation and generating
solutions.
• Differences in process of SIA and EIA: Though both among many are impact assessment of
proposed project, the difference lies in scope of area coverage, unlike EIA, SIA more focus on
socio economic study of people affected such as loss of livelihood, loss of land, deprivation of
natural facilities, demographic profile, migration and resettlement need, alternate occupation,
etc.
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