Jajpur/Kalinganagar: People displaced by the establishment of the Mesco Steel plant in Kalinganagar in Jajpur district are now facing acute hardships due to poverty. Most of them have lost the means of their livelihood following the closure of the plant three years back. Mesco Steel had acquired 530.68 acre of land to set up its plant. In the process, many residents had given up their land after being promised that locals will be given jobs in the plant.
However, the promise was forgotten in due course of time. The Kalinganagar Industrial Complex (KIC) was set up in the 1990s. Mesco Steel was the first steel company to set up a plant in Kalinganagar. The then Chief Minister Biju Patnaik had imposed a condition that firms wishing to acquire mines in Odisha will have to establish plants in the state. The lure of raw materials brought many companies to Odisha. The Odisha government had then claimed that Kalinganagar will become the steel hub of India over the next 20 years and will produce at least 20 million tonnes of steel annually.
However, that goal is yet to be achieved even though more than 30 years have elapsed. The Odisha government had also claimed that industrialisation will usher in development and employment for locals. That also did not materialise. Based on the assurances of the state government, many people in Kalinganagar had willingly given up their land for Mesco to set up its plant. However, the company allegedly duped people during land acquisition. The result has been that despite the plant remaining closed for more than three years now, people do not know whether they will get their land back. Mesco Steel has established on 428.15 acre of private and 102.53 acre of government land at an initial investment of Rs 530 crore. The firm managed to acquire two mines in Joda in Keonjhar district.
However, it later transpired that the company had illegally acquired the mines for which the state government imposed a fine of Rs 900 crore on it. To evade paying the amount, it has been alleged that Mesco closed down its plant. What has irked the locals, however, is the silence of the Odisha government on this issue. They said that people who have lost their jobs due to the closure will benefit if the government takes over the plant and resumes operations.
Despite protests and pleas most of the people who were working with Mesco Steel are facing daily pangs of hunger. Now, however, they have gone silent. They are just waiting to vent their frustrations during the Assembly elections next year. When contacted, Kalinganagar ADM Santosh Kumar Mishra said that the higher-up authorities of the Odisha government have been informed of the plight of the jobless workers of Mesco Steel. He said that the matter is not in his hand anymore and it is for them to take a call on the issue.