By Jyotismita Panda
Bhubaneswar, April 4: As part of confidence building exercise with land oustees and local villagers, Jindal Steel and Power Ltd on Thursday began an ambitious plan to upskilling some 6000 youths belonging to land losers and displaced families with a total investment of Rs 20 crore. “We believe that there cannot be any growth in and around our plant site, if we do not address the fulfillment of basic needs of the nearby villagers. We have initiated series of measures for peripheral development. Apart from the electrification of 18 peripheral villages, the company has introduced mobile hospital, drinking water and rural roads”, JSPL executive director Rajesh Jha said here on the sidelines of launching of a Book “Maitree” – Ama Angulra Pragati [Friendship – Progress of Our Angul] brought out by the Times of India Group. To its credit, the Naveen Jindal owned Company has not invited the wrath of the locals while putting up its state-of-the art 6 million ton per annum integrated steel plant in Angul district. Besides, it is also setting up a captive power plant to produce 1080 MW of electricity. The total project cost is pegged at Rs 13,500 crore. The Company is spending Rs 50 crores towards the resettlement and rehabilitation of around 900 displaced families and other persons by providing them with gainful employment and economically empower them as part of various Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives. Unveiling the Book, Biju Janata Dal leader and Rajya Sabha member, Pyari Mohan Mohapara underscored the need for ploughing back part of profit by corporate houses for local area development and carrying the stakeholders for overall development of the region where the industrial project is located. JSPL first set up a vocational technical training institute (O.P. Jindal Institute of Technology & Skills) at Angul to impart appropriate skills to illiterate and unemployed youths by providing them stipend. This institute provides adequate and quality vocational training to at least one member of each displaced family. There are some 200 students in this institute. It also provides vocational training to additional 200 non-matriculate youths of periphery villages in a bid to make them skilled workers. “We believe in participatory approach and we take the villagers into confidence while deciding about dwelling units for them or building schools or upskilling them. They need to lead a happy life”, Mr Jha, remarked adding that the company is building houses for land-oustees in consultation with the displaced persons. The Company is also encouraging the villagers to take up making of fly ash brick by providing technical and financial support from the banks. The Company will buy back that the entire produce of the brick plants, according to Mr Jha.
