To step up land acquisition for the proposed Tata Steel plant in Bastar, Chhattisgarh government has come out with a proposal to give subsistence allowance to the villagers losing their land to the project.
“The project-affected-people will get subsistence allowance of Rs 4,000 per month till the steel plant comes up in the area,” Bastar district collector Manohar Singh Paraste said. A senior Tata official in Bastar confirmed the development.
Paraste said the allowance would be paid by the company to 1,707 account holders enrolled by the district administration who would be giving their land for the project. The Tata management had already assured to give job to the affected people, he added.
"We would appeal to the villagers to avail the benefit of the package," the district collector said. The administration had taken the initiative to open zero balance bank accounts for the villagers in two nationalised banks where the allowance would be deposited, he added.
The district administration, however, has put a condition for withdrawal of the subsistence allowance. The affected villagers have been asked to install pillar on the boundary of the land they would be handing over to the administration for the project, Paraste said, adding that once the villagers installed pillars and handed over the land, they would be eligible to withdraw the allowance.
Besides subsistence allowance, the villager would get Rs 200 per pillar for demarking the land. The pillars would be provided by the company. Sources said this would help the administration in demarking the land that had been a big challenge for the administration after protests from some sections. Villagers possess a major share of land for the proposed 5-million tonnes per annum greenfield integrated steel plant of Tatas coming up in Lohandiguda area of Bastar district. Of the 2,160 hectares spread over 10 villages, 1,707 affected people possess 1764.61 hectares.
Under the rehabilitation norms, the company had deposited Rs 70 crore with the district administration for compensation. The administration had disbursed about Rs 42 crore to more than 70 per cent affected people. The remaining 30 per cent villagers are still opposing the project.