A meeting was held in Angul taking the officials of the district administration, the MCl and the land outstees of Solada village to discuss the demands of the villagers who have been on a strike stalling the operations of the MCl leading to loss of crores of rupees for last many days.
The meeting was presided over by Angul district Collector Anil Samal whereas MCl CMD Anil Jha, Talcher MlA Braja Kishore Pradhan and landlosers’ representatives were present.
The Solada villagers claimed that though they have lost their homestead and cultivable land to Hingula and Balaram mines and were assured of job and rehabilitation, the MCl has been playing truant.
It was unanimously decided to appoint 205 people by April 10 among 573 land losers. While 45 persons will get appointment before the end of April, the rest will be appointed by June end. The Collector directed the MCl authorities to fulfill all the legitimate demands of the landlosers as soon as possible.
On the other hand, MCl CMD Jha clarified that the profits obtained from the coal mines are utilised in the overall development of not only of the State but also of the country. So the MCl is always ready to solve the issues, he said and urged the villagers not to resort to a strike. Instead he appealed them to sort out all problems through dialogue.
However, district Collector Samal said that unrest in the mines areas occurs due to MCl’s inability to fulfill the genuine demands of the landlosers. Talcher MlA Brajakishore Pradhan requested the MCl CMD to fulfill the demands to avoid such incidents in future.
Among others, MCl Director (personal) lN Mishra, Special land Acquisition Officer Mangaturam Pradhan, SDPO Talcher HK Panda and DSP DIV Prakash Chandra Parida were present.