Ramesh announces Rs 300 cr package for Lanjigarh tribals

Note: This is a good news for Kalahandi. Thanks to our MP, Bhakta Charan Das for taking this issue strongly, indeed he had mentioned me couple of times to take such an issue with the central Govt. Great job by him. 

Business Standard, Jan 14, 2013

Tells VAL to look for bauxite beyond Niyamgiri for its refinery

Hrusikesh Mohanty / Kolkata/ Berhampur Jan 14, 2013, 00:24 IST

Union Minister for Rural Development, Jayaram Ramesh on Sunday announced a package worth Rs 300-crore envisaging construction of houses and roads for the Dongaria and Kutia Kandhas, a primitive tribes group (PTG), living at the foot-hill of Odisha’s bauxite rich Niyamgiri mountain in Kalahandi district. The package includes Rs 200-core for construction of 2100 houses under Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) and laying of rural roads to all villages with a population of 250 and more in Kalahandi district with an outlay of Rs 100 crore under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).

Ramesh announced this package at a press meet after interacting with the tribals at Lanjigarh. The Union minister revealed that the Centre would set up a non-timber forest produce centre at Lanjigarh in the next six months to help the primary timber collectors get better price and save them from being exploited by the middlemen. He, however, dismissed suggestions of any political agenda involving his visit to Lanjigarh, which has hogged limelight for closure of Vedanta’s one million tonne alumina refinery due to raw material crisis following denial of forest clearance to a bauxite mining project at Niyamgiri Hill during the tenure of Ramesh as Union Minister for Environment and Forest. "My visit has no link to bauxite mines in Niyamagiri Hill," Ramesh said. Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (VAL) had entered into a pact with the state-owned Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) for supply of bauxite from the Niyamgiri Hill deposits, adjoining its refinery plant at Lanjigarh. However, the MoEF scrapped the stage II forest clearance of the mining project on August 24, 2010, when Ramesh was holding the portfolio, pushing the refinery into a cloud of uncertainty. At least, three groups, including the displaced persons of the VAL refinery, local people working in the plant and the women employees of the unit, submitted separate memorandum to the Union minister urging him to make efforts for revival of the plant. VAL’s Chief Operation Officer (COO) Mukesh Kumar also met the minister. Kumar described the meeting as only courtesy one. On closure of Vedanta refinery, Ramesh said, as per the information available with MoEF, Niyamgiri deposit would have met only 3 to 4 percent of the refinery’s total bauxite requirement. "Why for such a small need, a sacred place like Niyamgiri should be destroyed. The company should rather explore sourcing raw material from alternative locations in and around Kalahandi where plenty of bauxite deposits are available," he added. He said, the mining should be considered as a sensitive matter. "Unfortunately the track record of mining operation was neither environmentally sustainable nor socially beneficial, be it in public sector or private sector," he said, adding, "Mining is not essentially a boom but often, a curse." The minister said, "all development plans should be based on growth of agricultural and rural development". Describing tribal-centric development as a key to contain Maoist menace, he said, concerted efforts must be made to bring the ultras to the mainstream. "The tribals should not be treated as show pieces for museums," he asserted. During his visit, the minister laid the foundation stone for Rajiv Seva Kendra at Lanjigarh and a model school at Biswanathpur in the poverty-stricken district. At the district headquarter town Bhawanipatna, the Union minister interacted with representatives of panchayati raj institutions (PRI).