Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa assured members of families displaced by Mangalore Special Economic Zone that the State government will support them in realising their demand for employment.
Receiving the memorandum from family members at the Circuit House on Friday, Mr. Yeddyurappa said the government would prevail upon the MSEZ and associated companies to provide jobs to eligible persons as promised while taking the land. “He instructed his staff to prevail upon the officials to act on the promise at the earliest. The Chief Minister asked the officials to even withdraw incentives to the companies if they fail to act,” said R.N. Shetty Kalavaru, who represented the project displaced families.
Mr. Kalavaru and four other members of MSEZ project displaced families met Mr. Yeddyurappa, who had come to lay the foundation stone for new three-storeyed block of the Circuit House. Member of Parliament Nalin Kumar Kateel and Minister for Ports J. Krishna Palemar were present.
Mr. Kateel pointed to Mr. Yeddyurappa about the delay on the part of MSEZ, the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL), and ONGC Mangalore Petrochemicals Limited (OMPL) in giving employment letters to the eligible members of project displaced families as agreed during a meeting held on March 25.
Mr. Kateel said the companies initially sought 15 days time. Then they sought 15 more days and had now requested for more time.
Mr. Palemar had gone on record stating that 1,063 of the 1,661 project displaced families had to be given jobs. As many as 598 families had taken compensation in lieu of jobs. Of the 1,063 families, 93 people had been given jobs so far. MRPL, which was supposed to employ 183 people, had taken 86 persons; OMPL, which had to employ 302 persons, had employed only three members; and the MSEZ have to employ the remaining members.
