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Chief minister Naveen Patnaik has asked the Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL), a Coal India subsidiary, to settle the problems of people displaced by its projects in three months. The direction from the chief minister came during a review of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities of the coal producer held at the state secretariat on Saturday.
He asked the Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC) to review the CSR activities of MCL with the respective district collectors. The Central PSU was also directed to highlight in its official website the welfare activities undertaken by it.
He stressed that CSR activities are key responsibilities of the companies and it should not be neglected. Expressing displeasure over delay in setting up medical college and hospital at Talcher, Patnaik directed the CPSU to start work at the earliest. In the MoU (memorandum of understanding) with the state government, MCL was supposed to complete construction work by 2016. MCL under its CSR programme is setting-up a 100-seated medical college with 500-bed hospital in Talcher at a cost of Rs 492 crore.
Recently, locals had resorted to economic blockade at Talcher blaming the MCL for the delay in the project.
Patnaik also asked the chief secretary to review the CSR activities of different CPSUs in the state every fortnight.
