methods of inquiry are given equal attention. The basic objective of this project was to make enquiries into what really camps are, the state of displacement The situation in the camps has to be investigated first, because the camp is the place indicating a stigma around the duty to protect a group, which at once is designated as “weak” – a group that is “vulnerable”.
The project was conceived in a small South Asian meeting held in Bangkok in March 2005 the project began in August 2005. The initial, time bound pilot study covered select IDPs in Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh and in four different regions in India. This was meant to be a pilot study carried out in IDP camps in South Asia. Three methods were adopted for this study – (a) random survey of some select IDP campsites and settlements and analysis on the basis of a focused questionnaire (b) focus group discussions with IDPs living in camps and (c) select case studies and presentations of voices from those selected areas or population groups. A total of 528 respondents from four different countries were interviewed. Other than that a number of focus group discussions were held and over thirty selected cases were studied in depth. There were country reports from Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh and case reports from Gujarat, Kashmir, Orissa and Bodoland in India. Of the 528 respondents 235 were displaced due to armed conflict, 34 due to army occupation, 91 due to development projects and 66 due to natural disaster. 
Manas Ray initiated the discussion by arguing that internal displacement is an intrinsic factor of the modern state formation. The Voices IDP project shows that of the total number of respondents less than half was displaced due to armed conflict, one tenth displaced due to natural disaster. He appreciated the comprehensive in-depth case studies the study had engaged with but he also pointed out that the study should have engaged with the political economy of displacement. The detailed profiling would have enhanced the quality of the study. 

Manabi Majumdar raised certain areas of concern regarding the internal displacement situation in South Asia. The report in her eyes contained certain important theoretical insights along with empirical research. The study had focused on “footloose proletariat”. She felt that the homogenous or heterogeneous character of the social group could have been highlighted if detailed ethnography of the condition of displaced children and youth were taken into account. Apart from these she felt that it is important to understand whether the IDP in the selected areas had a political voice and whether there was any variation in terms of political experience. 
The panelists felt that the mapping of IDP voices needs to look beyond life stories and understand the process in the context of modern state formation.

Resources, Women and Development in India's Northeast " (10 December 2007) 

In the theme of " Resources, Women and Development in India's Northeast " Patricia Mukhim, Rosemary Dzuvichu and Sunita Akoijam focused on various aspects of situations of displacement due to conflict, development projects and diseases. Paula Banerjee moderated this session. 
Patricia Mukhim initiated the discussion by pointing out the inherent problematic in the word “ Northeast”. The word North east she felt fails to capture the cultural, ecological diversity of the region. According to her, the Government of India has used the word” North east” to lump all of these heterogeneity together and dump development projects and support packages in ad hoc manner. She was critical of the top down administration system that is extremely male-centric with no effective mechanism for delivering governance at the local level. In Meghalaya, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh, the male centric society has no mechanisms of delivering governance.