Oxford University's Exploitation Knows No Boundaries

Oxford University are not only involved in the exploitation of animals, but now it would seem, also of people.They are currently involved in a highly criticised project that is building a controversial new city in India. Two years ago the University signed up to a new facility for its Said Business School in this new city complex that is funded by private investment. In return Oxford University got a substantial endowment of £7.5 million.

 

The name of this new city is Lavasa and it is situated in the unspoilt Western Ghats Mountains a couple of hours drive from Mumbai. It is spread over land that used to belong to twenty different villages. The Indigenous people who inhabited the villages for centuries are being pushed out, while those who stay are living in good houses, but no longer have any land for agriculture and therefore no livelihood, leaving them increasingly dependent on the Lavasa project. 10,000 acres of land originally owned by the tribal people was bought by the project, promising treated water, improved living standards, a road, electricity and education to help persuade the sale of land. However, although treated water is brought into the villagers everyday by tanker, they are denied access to the nearby lake being told they have 'no right'. This lack of access to the lake as well as to forest and land is worrying as it is basically a privatization of public resources. It is also alleged that fraudulent transactions by middlemen have led to land being unintentially sold to them while some cheques paid to the tribal people have bounced, leaving them possibly homeless and penniless. A court case is currently being prepared against the Lavasa project by a people's commission, claiming that 's own environmental laws were ignored by the state Government in the building of the new city. No environmental assessment was ever carried out on the city as the State Government gave it full environmental clearance as a tourist project, meaning the project wasn't reviewed by the central Delhi Government. When approached by investigative journalists, Oxford University refused to clarify their relationship with Lavosa and those that are building the city.