‘3 decades on, VSP evacuees yet to get alternative land’

‘10,000 acres in Karanavanipalem and Saniwada villages was acquired in 1978, says CPI(M) leader

Plainspeak: CPI(M) leader Ch. Narasinga Rao addressing the media in Viskahapatnam on Monday.

Accusing the State government of being apathetic to the pleas of the families displaced by the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP), the CPI (M) has said that the evacuees are yet to get alternative land.

“Nearly three decades after their lands were acquired, the residents of Karanavanipalem and Saniwada are yet to be provided with alternative lands by the successive State governments. A total of 119 families including 95 from Karanavanipalem and 24 from Saniwada have been living in thatched huts without basic amenities,” CPI(M) State secretariat member Ch. Narasinga Rao told the media here on Monday.

Benefits denied

He alleged that the genuine beneficiaries have been denied benefits on the plea that those needed particulars are not in the official records.

“The then Janata government allocated ₹1,000 crore for construction of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant in 1978. Within two months, 10,000 acres were acquired from the villagers. Forget about other welfare schemes, the evacuees do not even have access to safe drinking water. They are yet to be compensated adequately. This speaks volumes of the negligence of the successive State governments,” Mr. Rao pointed out.

‘Raw deal in jobs’

The Steel plant management and the State government had exerted pressure on the trade union leaders and made an agreement that only 5,000 permanent jobs would be provided to the evacuees in the plant. Though it had promised to provide 50 % of the technical posts to the displaced persons, many genuine beneficiaries were not recruited in the last two notifications issued by the VSP, Mr. Narasinga Rao alleged.

He also explained that of the 581 posts announced on October 12, only 148 were allocated to the the displaced persons and only 223 of the 664 posts announced were allotted to the evacuees in the previous recruitment.

Agitation warned

The CPI(M) leader appealed to the State government to initiate measures to find solutions to the problems of the evacuees by exerting pressure on the VSP management.

The CPI(M) leader also warned that the displaced persons would resort to an agitation otherwise.