The agitating villagers have refused to lift the wooden gate erected at the entry point of Nuagaon, one of the Posco affected villages, to allow smooth conduct of the ensuing Lok Sabha and assembly polls.
While the villagers have ruled out withdrawing from their stir, they have agreed to allow the officials of the district administration, electoral officers and police to enter the village to conduct the proceedings.The Posco affected villagers are disgruntled over non-fulfillment of their demands.
“We have committed to extend our cooperation to the district administration and police to conduct smooth election in Nuagaon panchayat. We have also agreed to allow district officials, police, political leaders and poll personnel to our panchayat without lifting wooden gate and calling off our indefinite dharana. Our stir to restrict the entry of Posco officials will continue till the end of election process,” said Tamil Pradhan, spokesperson for United Action Committee (UAC), a pro-Posco outfit.
“The demands of local villagers are genuine but the district administration is unable to give any assurance to fulfill these demands due to model code of conduct. We will take steps to resolve these issues after discussions with Posco officials by conducting the Rehabilitation and Periphery Development Advisory Committee (RPDAC). The RPDAC meeting can be held after completion of election process,” said Mallick.
The superintendent of police, however, said the erection of the wooden gate could create hindrance to the smooth conduct of the elections. Police would take all precautionary measures at the Posco areas to conduct smooth and incident free elections, he added.
Later,the district officials visited Dhinkia and Gobindpur villages. They also interacted with anti-Posco leaders including Sisir Mohapatra, seeking their cooperation to conduct smooth and incident-free elections.
While the villagers have ruled out withdrawing from their stir, they have agreed to allow the officials of the district administration, electoral officers and police to enter the village to conduct the proceedings.The Posco affected villagers are disgruntled over non-fulfillment of their demands.
“We have committed to extend our cooperation to the district administration and police to conduct smooth election in Nuagaon panchayat. We have also agreed to allow district officials, police, political leaders and poll personnel to our panchayat without lifting wooden gate and calling off our indefinite dharana. Our stir to restrict the entry of Posco officials will continue till the end of election process,” said Tamil Pradhan, spokesperson for United Action Committee (UAC), a pro-Posco outfit.
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Officials of the district administration including Jagatsinghpur collector, Satya Kumar Mallick and superintendent of police Satyabrata Bhoi interacted with the villagers.
“The demands of local villagers are genuine but the district administration is unable to give any assurance to fulfill these demands due to model code of conduct. We will take steps to resolve these issues after discussions with Posco officials by conducting the Rehabilitation and Periphery Development Advisory Committee (RPDAC). The RPDAC meeting can be held after completion of election process,” said Mallick.
The superintendent of police, however, said the erection of the wooden gate could create hindrance to the smooth conduct of the elections. Police would take all precautionary measures at the Posco areas to conduct smooth and incident free elections, he added.
Later,the district officials visited Dhinkia and Gobindpur villages. They also interacted with anti-Posco leaders including Sisir Mohapatra, seeking their cooperation to conduct smooth and incident-free elections.