Project affected people meet Piyush Goyal, seek redressal of grievances

New Delhi/Bhubaneswar: The land oustees or Project Affected People (PAP) of Talcher, Jharsuguda and Sundergarh areas
led by Kalindi Samal, State Secretary, BJP Unit, Odisha on Thursday met Piyush Goyal, Minister of State for Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy in New Delhi.

Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of State for Petroleum & Natural Gas also accompanied the delegation.

The issues pertaining to rehabilitation & resettlement, compensatory jobs to the oustees/PAP or their nominees were taken up during the course of the deliberations. The delegation conveyed their disappointment with MCL, particularly functioning of RPDAC with respect to providing justice, resettlement claims and compensation to the land oustees.

Lack of regular meetings, non-appointment of Rehabilitation Officer (RO) and Land Acquisition Officer (LAO) and lackadaisical approach of the committee in addressing the issue of the people were highlighted. The lack of initiative in peripheral development and other associated issues were also brought to the notice of the Minister of State for Coal.

Taking into consideration the issues raised by the land oustees, Dharmendra Pradhan urged Piyush Goyal to constitute a high-level committee from the Ministry to redress the grievances of the land oustees and provide adequate relief and compensation.

In conformity of the request of Dharmendra Pradhan, it was decided by Shri Piyush Goyal that a high-level committee will be constituted. The Committee will visit affected areas for redressing the long pending demands and will give recommendations for the benefit of the oustees.

The Committee will interact with the officials of the State government, officials of MCL and all stakeholders, so as to find a just and reasonable solution to the grievances of the land oustees. It was also decided that the issues/grievance of the land oustees will be resolved within a stipulated timeframe.

Dharmendra Pradhan hoped that the suggested mechanism will help in resolving long pending issues, provide justice and fair compensation to the affected persons.