Thousands of displaced families yet to receive Visakhapatnam Steel Plant benefits

Visakhapatnam: Decades ago, people from 64 villages had sacrificed their lands for the establishment of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) with a hope that a big industry would come up, providing employment to thousands of locals.

Close to 22,000 acres of land, including vacant sites and houses, were handed over to the authorities concerned for the construction of the plant. As a part of the first phase, land was acquired in Nellimukku, Nadupuru, Sidheshwaram, Sitanagaram, Gangavaram and Dibbavanipalem panchayats.

In the second phase, Kondayyavalasa, Vadlapudi and Aganampudi panchayats lands were acquired.

In 1966, the government issued a notification for the first phase of the land acquisition and paid only Rs 1,250 per acre as compensation to each displaced family. Dissatisfied over the amount received, the inhabitants staged protests that continued for a long time to increase the compensation.

In 1987, the then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Justice RK Pathak handed over the revised compensation to the tune of Rs 20,000 per acre. In addition, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi promised to give a job to a person from each displaced family. The same was also mentioned in the project report of the VSP.

But till date, 8,000 families did not get employment in the plant.

Of the 16,600 inhabitants, only 8,500 families were employed in VSP on both permanent and temporary basis. Even for this per cent of placements, the youth had to put up endless fights. Those who sacrificed their lands for the VSP were given 107 square yards of house sites then.

Followed by a series of protests, permanent employment was provided to 5,000 locals in the presence of the then District Collector Arjuna Rao in 1984. After a while, 3,500 persons were given temporary jobs in a phased manner.

For a long time, stretching from 1991 to 2006, there was no recruitment for permanent jobs in VSP. In 2008, the then Union Steel Minister announced allocation of 50 per cent of jobs to the inhabitants. However, the proposal is yet to see the light of the day.

"Even the trade unions fighting against strategic sale of the VSP are not concerned about our issues pending for decades. Though the R-cards (rehabilitation) given to the displaced families of the VSP to avail job opportunities later were transferred for the next generation, the eligible persons are yet to get jobs in the company," laments P Bhasakara Rao, president of Visakha Ukku Nirvasitula Ikya Sangham.

Expressing their concerns, the displaced families are conducting relay hunger strike at steel plant gate, Kurmannapalem, demanding the government to provide jobs as promised.