BHUBANESWAR: With over 1,600 land oustees waiting for jobs and another 5,000 affected people in need of resettlement by the Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL), the State Government has asked the Union Coal Ministry to resolve these issues in a time-bound manner.
Though MCL, a subsidiary of Coal India Limited, has increased the cash compensation in lieu of employment from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 16 lakh, the offer is not acceptable to land oustees. The affected families are persistent in their demand for jobs.
The failure of MCL to provide jobs to land oustees and resettlement of displaced families has been triggering public protests and economic blockade hampering production and despatch of coal from Talcher area.
Senior officials of the Coal Ministry expressed concern over frequent disruption in coal production at a recent meeting with Chief Secretary AP Padhi at the State Secretariat, here.
Stating that the Ministry has set a target for MCL to produce 250 million tonnes of coal by 2019-20, the officials said the the national PSU will not be able to achieve the target if law and order situation is not maintained.
Highly placed sources in Angul district administration said 327 cases have been registered and over 300 people arrested last year.
“The affected families have lost their patience as MCL is not addressing their problems. Land oustees waiting for jobs are only getting assurance from MCL. The faster the MCL settles this problem the better,” the sources said.
Several delegations from Talcher, Jharsuguda and Sundargarh have gone to Delhi and discussed issues pertaining to compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement and compensatory jobs to affected families with Union Coal Minister Piyush Goyal. However, the situation has remained the same, State BJP secretary Kalandi Samal said.
Expressing his disappointment over the functioning of Rehabilitation and Periphery Development Advisory Committee (RPDAC) of MCL, Samal said the panel has failed to address the problems of affected families.