The rehabilitation policy of the Tata’s Gopalpur project has been condemned by the BJP, Congress and CPI leaders at a meeting at Gopalpur on Monday. Two former MlAs of Chhatrapur warned the Tata company and the State Government to immediately refrain from a divided and rule policy in matter of rehabilitation of the project oustees.
The affected persons of 17 villages located in and around the Gopalpur Tata project site under the banner Tata Bistapeeta and Srameeka Sangh decried the existing rehabilitation policy of the company. They alleged that the company was providing jobs only to those who have lost houses, but not to the ones who have lost their valuable land.
Former Deputy Speaker and BJP leader Rama Chandra Panda attending the meeting warned the Tata management of an agitation ahead if the company and the State Government do not stick to their promises and implement a fair rehabilitation policy. In his address, former CPI MlA of Chatrapur Narayan Reddy came down heavily on the local elected representatives for ignoring the project oustees. Reddy alleged that a Minister of Ganjam district instead of taking the problem of land losers was acting as a middleman between the Government and the Tata company for facilitation of the project. Reddy warned of a movement both against the Tata and the State Government.