Rayagada: Residents displaced for Aditya Alumina Refinery demanded a 0.01 per cent equity stake in the company and compensation at four times the prevailing market rate during a meeting held Saturday at the Rayagada Sub-Collector’s conference hall. The meeting, chaired by Sub-Collector Ramesh Jena, was attended by company officials and villagers from Podapadi, Puhundi, Anthuguda and Kadapadar villages in Kashipur block.
The affected residents presented a charter of demands and sought immediate convening of a Rehabilitation and Periphery Development Advisory Committee (RPDAC) meeting. The key demands included DP (displaced persons) status for 34 families of Puhundi mouza and for Nuasahi, compensation at four times the land’s market value as per the 2013 Industrial Policy to original landowners, and permanent jobs for local youth, which is 90 per cent in unskilled categories and 75 per cent in skilled categories.
They also sought allocation of 30 per cent of company work to local contractors, assignment of transportation work to DP and PAP (Project Affected Persons) beneficiaries, establishment of an engineering college for higher education, and a 100-bed medical facility to provide quality health care in the area. Residents also demanded that Kadampada village be granted full DP status, citing the mining road and mining belt that pass through the village.
They further called for the inclusion of local residents Akhil Jhodia, Gangadhar Raj, Rabi Majhi and Lalita Naik as members of the RPDAC committee, and demanded the appointment of an Odia CEO in the company. To ensure the economic security of both the present and future generations, the villagers demanded allocation of a 0.01 per cent equity stake in the company.
It was stated that some local residents have already been provided employment and company authorities have been directed to continue offering jobs in the coming days. The Sub-Collector said all necessary assistance would be provided to displaced families. Officials from Aditya Alumina, including HR Head Deepak Mohanty and CSR and R&R Head Tanmay Mohanty, attended the meeting.
Sources said that land was acquired in 2006 from the villages of Kansariguda, Podapadi, Puhundi, Anthuguda and Kadapadar villages in Kashipur block of Rayagada district for setting up the Aditya Alumina Refinery of the Aditya Birla Group. Landowners were paid compensation based on the prevailing land value at the time.
At a meeting of the state-level RPDC, November 4, 2014, the then revenue divisional commissioner, the minister for Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes, and the then Laxmipur MLA directed the Aditya Alumina management to expedite work and make the project operational. However, the refinery remained non-functional until 2023.
Under the state’s 2006 and 2013 industrial policies, if a company fails to become operational within five years of land acquisition, the land is to be returned to the original owners and reacquired afresh. Instead of returning the land, the company began construction work at the site in 2023, residents alleged.
Citing lack of employment, prolonged economic losses and inactivity after giving up their land, local residents opposed the project and demanded compensation in line with current norms. They have also been pressing for another RPDAC meeting. Villagers alleged that both the district administration and company authorities ignored their repeated demands.
In December, landowners staged a sit-in protest in front of the company. During the protest, Sub-Collector Ramesh Chandra Jena had assured them that a meeting would be convened to address their grievances, residents said.
