BJP leader demands legal action against Vedanta Aluminium
Calling for legal action against Vedanta Aluminium Limited (VAL) for the sudden closure of its refinery plant at Lanjigarh, senior BJP leader and former minister Pradip Kumar Nayak on Monday urged the State Government to protect the interests of the employees.
“The closure of the refinery by Vedanta violates the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, and this calls for action against the company,” Nayak told a press conference here. The company served a three-month notice under Industrial Disputes (ID) Act on the State Government on September 7 for shutting down its Lanjigarh alumina refinery unit from December 5 due to shortage of bauxite. The company then said it will manage to run the plant for three months only.
The company, however, shut down the refinery unit and the 75-MW capacity captive power plant on October 13 without intimating the Government. This is clear violation of the ID Act and the Government must initiate appropriate action against the company, the BJP leader from Bhawanipatna said.
Expressing concern over the future of the 3,500 employees of the company, Nayak requested the Government to find a solution by making alternative arrangement to meet the raw material need of VAL.
Though four bauxite mines allotted to Utkal Alumina International Limited (UAIL), a subsidiary of Aditya Birla Group, they are lying idle for more than 15 years.
The Baphlimali bauxite mines, one of the four mines allotted to Birla group, located on the border of Kalahandi and Rayagada districts is ideal for meeting the bauxite requirement of VAL. While 38 per cent of the mining area is in Kalahandi district, the State Government should make necessary arrangements for exploration of bauxite from Baphlimali mines till the issue of allocation of bauxite mines to VAL is sorted out, Nayak said.
An area of 1,388 hectares were leased out to UAIL in 2000 to set up alumina plant near Tikiri in Rayagada district. The Directorate of Mines had issued a show-cause to the company in 2010 for non-execution of the lease and keeping the mines idle.