The battle lines seem to be getting drawn between Anti- and Pro-
Arcellor Mittal's proposed Steel Plant in Torpa-Kamdara area of Khunti
Jharkhand. This is an extremely interesting development in light of the yesterday's pull-out of Tata's from Singur Nano Project in Wesr
Bengal and Bhushan and Kohinoor Steel Officials treated badly and
manhandled by the Villagers in Jharkhand. Read the details in the Fwd
msg below.Dr.V.N.Sharma AMIT GUPTA Ranchi, Oct. 1: Congress MP Sushila Kerketta today convened a meeting
of villagers from Torpa and Kamdara to pave the way for the
ArcelorMittal's greenfield project in the state in an effort to avoid
a repeat of the infamous Potka episode, where some Bhushan Steel
officials on a land recce were manhandled last month. But the tension between the anti-displacement and pro-industry groups
was palpable during the meet held at the behest of ArcelorMittal and
the state industries department. Around 40km away from the meet site,
Adivasi Moolvasi Astitva Raksha Manch activists squatted on the road
to prevent vehicles transporting villagers towards Khunti. Social
activist Dayamani Barla, who is spearheading the movement against land
acquisition for the ArcelorMittal project, led the demonstration. Undeterred by the protest, Kerketta, the first politician in the state
to openly back an industry house, held parleys with villagers for at
least four hours at her Khunti residence. Visibly happy after the meeting, Kerketta told The Telegraph: "The
villagers of Torpa-Kamdara and officials of ArcelorMittal have been
requesting me to organise a meeting for a one-to-one discussion on the
company's resettlement and rehabilitation (R&R) plan in the area. Some
people were coming between the company and villagers, which I tried to
avoid by organising this meeting." Over 100 villagers eager to know what the company and the government
would offer them in lieu of their plots attended the meet. ArcelorMittal's general manager (mines) P.S. Prasad represented the
steel major, while deputy secretary in state industries department
A.K. Mishra represented the government. After returning to the state
capital, Prasad said the response of the villagers was positive as far
as land acquisition is concerned. "We provided them all the facts about the proposed project and told
them that the company would follow the state government's R&R policy
in toto. The biggest achievement is that for the fist time we managed
to hold talks with villagers. The company also respects the feelings
of Barla and we want a dialogue with her as well," Prasad said. The social activist, however, termed the meet "stage-managed". Barla said: "The villagers did not attend the meeting willingly.
Kerketta and her henchmen sent four-wheelers to ferry villagers to the
meeting site. But the vehicles were returned. Few villagers, who are
either businessmen or acting as brokers, reached Khunti for the
meeting by their two-wheelers," she claimed. Land acquisition appears to be the biggest hurdle before
industrialisation in the state. Three Bhushan Steel officials were manhandled at Potka in East
Singhbhum while they were on a land recce. Police remained mute
spectator. Discontent over land acquisition is brewing among villagers even as
the state has proposed a liberal R&R policy. Communication gap between
the masses and the administration has been blamed for the unruly
scenes. Today's meeting was an effort of the government to explain villagers
the plans they charted out for the people losing land. The ArcelorMittal's earlier effort to hold a meeting with the
villagers in Kamdara block proved futile as nobody turned up. ------------------------------------ Replying to this email will send an e-mail to 7000+ members of Jharkhand Forum. +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ About Jharkhand Forum @ http://www.jharkhand.org.in/about-jharkhand-forum Jharkhand Forum's Posting Norms http://jharkhand.org.in/posting_norms.htm Add your Name in Members directory - http://directory.jharkhand.org.in Are U interested to be an online volunteer? http://volunteer.jharkhand.org.in +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ Post your Petition Online @ http://petition-online.blogspot.com MAKE FUNDING APPEAL HERE @ http://FUNDING-APPEAL.blogspot.com Get a FREE website for your NGO @ Http://Gift.Jharkhand.Org.In Check previous messages of J-Forum @ http://jharkhandforum.blogspot.com
Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://in.groups.yahoo.com/group/Jharkhand/ <*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to:
http://in.groups.yahoo.com/group/Jharkhand/join
(Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email:
mailto:Jharkhand-digest@yahoogroups.co.in
mailto:Jharkhand-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.co.in <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
Jharkhand-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.co.in <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://in.docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ |