Angul: Around 120 displaced villagers who lost their land for the establishment of National Aluminium Company (NALCO) Limited in Angul have alleged that the company has neglected them for decades. With neither NALCO authorities nor the district administration addressing their grievances, the aggrieved villagers said they were compelled to move the Orissa High Court seeking justice.
According to the petitioners, NALCO acquired land in 1981 in the undivided Dhenkanal district to set up its plant, covering 39 villages under Talcher, Chhendipada, and Angul Assembly constituencies. In 1984, NALCO formulated a rehabilitation policy for the displaced families, classifying them into two categories — fully displaced and partially displaced families. The company’s 1992 report noted that a total of 2,626 families had been affected by the project.
However, the petitioners claimed that in 2006–07, the company introduced a new policy aimed at harassing the displaced land losers, labeling them as Limited Affected Persons (LAPs). As per the resolutions adopted in high-level company meetings and the Rehabilitation and Peripheral Development Advisory Committee (RPDAC), 297 displaced individuals received skill development training between 1988 and 2005 and were subsequently employed as skilled workers in NALCO.
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When the company later announced regular recruitment, only 36 of the trained villagers were given permanent jobs, while 120 others were reportedly ignored. Frustrated, they approached the High Court and staged a sit-in in front of the Collector’s office for 285 days. Protesters claimed that October 24, the Angul Municipality, with police support, forcibly cleared their protest site.
Citing the 1984 policy, the protesters alleged that the company ignored genuine land losers while granting permanent jobs to three or four people from families that had lost as little as two to three decimals of land. Displaced villager Yogesh Samal said, “They had promised that once permanent vacancies opened, we would be given priority for regular appointments, even if we lacked training certificates or met age limits,” Samal said. “But now, NALCO is recruiting new candidates and ignoring us. We have been forced to seek justice in the High Court.”
Similarly, NALCO sponsored LAP ITI Displaced People’s Association, Talcher, Anugul secretary Shashank Shekhar Samal said, “Around 120 displaced persons have filed a petition in the HC against NALCO’s unlawful practices since January.”
A senior NALCO official, however, said appointments were made based on the candidates’ educational qualifications. “Those protesting are demanding more than what is due to them,” the official said.
