3. Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and issues of compensation
"What we are witnessing over the last five years has been the progressive transformation of a secure family unit into a state of absolute pauperization where most of them are living on less than one square meal a day. This is the slow death, which no one counts."(19)
An estimated 250,000(20) individuals were displaced as a direct result of the Gujarat violence. The vast majority of them have reportedly left the state or have moved to other mostly Muslim localities within the state. An approximate 5,000(21) families are still living in what are being referred to as "relief colonies" in four districts of Gujarat - Panchmahals, Sabarkantha, Dahod, Anand and in the cities of Ahmedabad and Vadodara. Aman Biradari(22) which conducted a detailed survey of these colonies in December 2006, defines a relief colony as one in "which residents have come from entirely a different area within village/city or from outside of it." Over the last five years, they point out that these habitats have become permanent places of residence for those who are too frightened to return home. There are an estimated 81 "relief colonies" which are mostly located in urban areas. The size of each colony greatly varies. According to the survey conducted by Aman Biradari, there are 14 colonies which contain up to 15 families, about 15 colonies with 31-50 families, a further 15 colonies with 51-100 families whilst the largest six colonies
