In October 2006, for the first time in five years, India%u2019s National Commission of Minorities (NCM) visited these "relief colonies" following an official complaint by Gagan Sethi from the Centre for Social Justice, an Ahmedabad-based human rights organization and Delhi-based social activist, Farah Naqvi.
The NCM%u2019s findings(23) contested the Government of Gujarat%u2019s claim that all those displaced by the violence had been adequately rehabilitated. The NCM%u2019s report submitted to the Government, pointed out that:
· large numbers of internally displaced Muslim families in Gujarat were living in sub-human conditions in colonies entirely constructed by NGOs; · abject poverty prevails in these colonies; · these colonies lacked basic civic facilities including potable water, sanitation facilities, electricity, access to health services and education etc; · the majority of families in the colonies were destitute but were given Above Poverty Line cards by the state authorities rather than being given Below Poverty Line cards which entitles them to food grains cereals, kerosene and other basic consumer items at subsidized rates; · residents of these colonies were "frustrated by their inability to earn their own livelihood and to support themselves in the manner to which they were accustomed," and are finding it extremely difficult to survive;(24)
