Post News Network
Kalinganagar, March 23: Industrial houses ignoring local youth in the employment process here in Jajpur district had a taste of people’s ire as Sukinda MLA Pritiranjan Ghadai came down heavily Monday on an under-construction steel plant and warned that work would be paralysed if the situation does not change.
Ghadai came down heavily on Tata Steel. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has been able to achieve success in the state with the help of youth, who are the future of the country, he told a gathering of youth wing members of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) outside gate no. 1 of the Tata Steel project.
Kalinganagar has turned into an industrially rich region because of Patnaik’s leadership and unstinted efforts, he said.
As Kalinganagar grew with major projects such as Tata Steel coming up in the area, people expected that the youth of the area would be employed in the plant once it is established. They were, however, disappointed after the steel major ignored local interests and instead appointed non-Oriyas in its unit, he said.
Currently 90 per cent of the workforce in Tata Steel consists of people from Bihar, West Bengal and Jharkhand. Only 338 of the 1,114 displaced families have got employment at the plant.
Ghadai recalled the efforts of the 14 tribals who laid down their lives January 2, 2006, while fighting displacement and said the time has come to turn their dreams into reality.
Local youth have migrated to places such as Chennai, Bangalore, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat in search of employment as they have been ignored by the project authorities here, he claimed.
Moreover, the company has also made no progress in establishing a 200-bed super specialty hospital in the region whose foundation stone was laid by the Chief Minister. He termed the company’s tardy work on this front as unfortunate.
He called upon people to shun slavery of the industrial houses and get united to achieve their demands from Tata Steel and other plants. Ghadai warned that their agitation will be intensified in the coming days if local youths are not recruited in the steel plant through special examinations and warned people acting against local interests.
Kalinganagar Mazdoor Union working president Akshaya Kumar Sahu presided over the meeting, which was attended by zilla parishad member Mahendra Kumar Dhal, zilla parishad vice-chairperson Sarojini Raj, Sukinda panchayat samiti chairperson Bhagabati Mohanta, vice-chairperson Bibek Bose, Danagadi panchayat samiti chairperson Lalita Ray, and party leaders Maheshwar Guru and Girish Das Samant.