Angul: A day ahead of a scheduled meeting over rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) policy pertaining to the brownfield expansion project of National Aluminium Company Limited (Nalco), affected villagers staged a protest by burning copies of the draft policy Wednesday.
Residents of Kangula, Gopinathpur and Kulad mouzas, whose land parcels are set to be acquired for the project, united in protest against the draft policy. Alleging that the policy fails to safeguard their interests, they set ablaze the papers as a mark of dissent. The affected villagers claimed that despite the draft policy being prepared by Nalco and the district administration, it does not ensure permanent employment for any displaced person.
They further alleged that during earlier tripartite meetings involving villagers, Nalco and the administration, the company had assured permanent jobs to each displaced family. Following this assurance, residents of the three villages had cooperated with preliminary survey work. However, despite multiple surveys conducted since then, no policy favouring the affected people has been finalised, they said.
The villagers also alleged that the draft policy was shared with them only a few hours before the scheduled R&R meeting, leaving little scope for discussion or objection. In protest, the affected families have decided to collectively boycott Thursday’s meeting. They have also submitted a memorandum to the District Collector, the Additional Collector and the special land acquisition officer of Nalco. Angul Collector Abdaal Muhammad Akhtar urged the affected people to attend the meeting and raise their concerns.
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