The industrialisation process in Jharkhand is expected to be stelled for some time now as Chief Minister Shibu Soren was now insisting on a detailed review of the already finalised Resettlement and Rehabilitation policy (RRP) of the state and adding more ‘people-friendly’ clauses to it.
This will sent wrong signal to investors interested in setting up steel and power projects in the state as the RRP could now become heavily weighed against companies, warned sources in industry circles here.
The policy was finalized in July last during the tenure of the former Chief Minister Madhu Koda. It was approved by the then state cabinet but was not presented in the Assembly as political uncertainty erupted in the state thereafter, leading to the exit of Koda and elevation of Soren. Koda’s RRP provided compensatory jobs to those displaced by industrialisation.
It made provision of investment of upto 50 per cent of the compensation amount in the company’s shares and debentures, housing facilities even for unauthorised occupants of the area, community development programmes and setting up of training centers among other things.
Investors and industry groups promised to abide by the provisions of the RRP but warned that the policy was unfair against industry. After Soren came to power, he declared that more pro-people clauses would be inserted into the RRP so that the displaced people were not deprived.
At a cabinet meeting a few days back, he asked his deputy, Stephen Marandi, to hold talks with other ministers and UPA partners so that the policy could be made more attractive for displaced people. Investors and industry groups were unlikely to welcome the changes. Since the new state was bifurcated from erstwhile Bihar in November 2000, the state decided to promote industrialisation and signed 66 MoUs with major national and international groups for setting up industries, mostly in steel and power sectors.