Land rights are at the heart of India’s new push to make businesses socially responsible

To ensure that businesses in India are responsible, sustainable, and respect basic human rights, the government of India is in the process of finalising its National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights (NAP). The zero draft of NAP, which has been public for over a year, is now under the final stages of extensive consultations with stakeholders led by the union Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA). While the industry and experts working on land rights and environmental issues welcome the move, the latter believe that for the final version to be successful and meaningful, it needs to address rights of forest dwellers being impacted by businesses, development of areas affected by extractive industries, the responsibility of investors in addition to corporations towards environmental protection and combatting climate change.