FRIDAY, 02 NOVEMBER 2012 18:56PNS | JAJPUR

At least 1,200 displaced villagers on Thursday forcibly locked all the three gates, including the main gate, of the Tata Steel plant at Kalinga Nagar in protest against the slipshod attitudes of the officials of the company in providing jobs and other facilities to them.

They demanded that the company implement the Odisha Resettlement and Rehabilitation (R&R) Policy, 2006 in letter and spirit and also consider youth above 18 years of age as separate families.

“As per Section-2 of the R&R Policy, an 18-year-old male member is entitled to getting separate family status. A major son irrespective of his marital status, an unmarried daughter or sister of more than 30 years of age, a physically and mentally-challenged person irrespective of age and sex, a mentally challenged person suffering from more than 40 per cent permanent disability, a minor orphan who has lost both his or her parents and a widow or a woman divorcee are considered as separate families as per the policy. But the Tata company is yet to consider 18-year-old youth as separate families; as a result many youth are not getting jobs and other benefits,” said Ramachandra Badara, a displaced tribal.

When contacted, Senior Manager of Corporate Communication of the company JK Padhi said, “984 families were displaced in 2005 for the steel plant. We provide all types of helps to them. January 1, 2005 was the cutoff date to consider any displaced person as a family by the company. After 2005, the company cannot consider any person above 18 years of age as a separate family.”

Tatas claim that they have ‘purchased’ all the Adivasis of Kalinganagar. But listen to this news. For a history of the Kalinganagar struggle please see this

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lj9MAOqBFQw]