From October 2007 to April 2008, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) conducted a five-country assessment, from a gender perspective, of the impact of selected transport projects on the spread of HIV. The assessment consisted of a review of ADB and government policies and regulatory frameworks in relation to HIV and to gender. Field work was carried out in selected project sites in five countries including India. According to the report over 370 interviews and group discussions were conducted with representatives of ministries of health, public works, transport, infrastructure, and women’s affairs; non-government organizations (NGOs) and other civil society actors; and construction workers, sex workers, villagers, youth, and people living with HIV. It will be beneficial if the concerned authorities in Nagaland including the State Women Commission can also get a copy of the assessment conducted by the ADB so that necessary corrective measures and other policy interventions can be made to ensure development takes place without any hazards.
It will be of crucial importance to note that as per the study, people most vulnerable to HIV during infrastructure construction are skilled and semiskilled male workers—including machine operators, drivers, supervisors, managers, and engineers—and young, rural, poorly educated women who move to the construction sites to sell sex. The study’s findings also states that improved transportation infrastructure results in greater mobility, particularly for young people and men, and increased travel outside the local area to seek paid work. Similarly, it states that “outside their village, young women are more vulnerable to sexual exploitation and young men are more likely to become involved in risk-taking behavior” and that “spouses left behind without a secure livelihood may engage in unprotected sex for money or they may be exposed to infection due to their returning partner’s risky behavior. While the ADB report has focused its attention on gender and HIV, it will be unwise on our part if we miss out on the other negative social consequences that may accompany the development of roads and transport. What impact is it having on the indigenous people’s land, its resources and its cultural identity? Of equal concern should be the changing demographic profile especially the increasing flow of illegal migrants. Of late, Naga society is witnessing increased level of anti-social crimes, something which we were not used to in the past.
Another point not missed out in the report is the concern that “new roads can also increase the trafficking of drugs through previously remote areas, as well as the risk of trafficking in people, both men and women, for their labor, and women and children for sexual exploitation”. This part of the study’s finding is particularly worrisome given that Nagaland is engaged in the process of extensive road development especially in the last four to five years. There have been huge funds allocated in the budget for undertaking road construction. The State government will therefore have to take whatever corrective measures required especially on the impact of infrastructure development on local communities. With new roads being build across the State, the government machinery with involvement of civil society groups should gear up to respond to the inimical forces and elements that come along with development. The ADB report has set out recommendations which will be useful for Nagaland to adopt as well.
It will be of crucial importance to note that as per the study, people most vulnerable to HIV during infrastructure construction are skilled and semiskilled male workers—including machine operators, drivers, supervisors, managers, and engineers—and young, rural, poorly educated women who move to the construction sites to sell sex. The study’s findings also states that improved transportation infrastructure results in greater mobility, particularly for young people and men, and increased travel outside the local area to seek paid work. Similarly, it states that “outside their village, young women are more vulnerable to sexual exploitation and young men are more likely to become involved in risk-taking behavior” and that “spouses left behind without a secure livelihood may engage in unprotected sex for money or they may be exposed to infection due to their returning partner’s risky behavior. While the ADB report has focused its attention on gender and HIV, it will be unwise on our part if we miss out on the other negative social consequences that may accompany the development of roads and transport. What impact is it having on the indigenous people’s land, its resources and its cultural identity? Of equal concern should be the changing demographic profile especially the increasing flow of illegal migrants. Of late, Naga society is witnessing increased level of anti-social crimes, something which we were not used to in the past.
Another point not missed out in the report is the concern that “new roads can also increase the trafficking of drugs through previously remote areas, as well as the risk of trafficking in people, both men and women, for their labor, and women and children for sexual exploitation”. This part of the study’s finding is particularly worrisome given that Nagaland is engaged in the process of extensive road development especially in the last four to five years. There have been huge funds allocated in the budget for undertaking road construction. The State government will therefore have to take whatever corrective measures required especially on the impact of infrastructure development on local communities. With new roads being build across the State, the government machinery with involvement of civil society groups should gear up to respond to the inimical forces and elements that come along with development. The ADB report has set out recommendations which will be useful for Nagaland to adopt as well.
