'POSCO to add issues of displaced ones'

Bhubaneswar, Jan 08: POSCO India will address issues of the people to be displaced from government land, reasonable compensation to cultivators on the encroached land and fair price for the private land to be acquired for its 12 MTPA steel plant in Paradeep.

In a statement here POSCO India Executive Director Uma Ballav Pattnaik said all displaced families and even the landless labourers would be adequately compensated. He was reacting to some media reports that POSCO-India was not considering the demands of the Action Committee and dubbed the allegation as''untrue''.

'' We have already stated that besides complying with the Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R) policy of the state government, POSCO-India will have its own R&R policy and nearly 25,000 people will be engaged in the construction of the mega steel plant, the biggest FDI in the country,'' Mr Pattnaik said. He further added that many more commercial activities would provide ample opportunities of employment and business to the local people.

Besides, the company had also decided to provide technical and skill upgradation training to the affected people of project area to enhance their employability, he stated.

For computation of exact R&R package, a socio-economic survey and demarcation of land was necessary, which the state government would carry out in the project area.

Mr Pattnaik reiterated that the POSCO-India along with all the stakeholders would ensure to provide better and sustainable livelihood to the affected people.

The Rs 52,000 crore project, he said, would not only change the socio-economic landscape of Jagatsinghpur district but also the whole of Orissa, the Director claimed.

UNI