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Iron in the soul

  • 30/01/2006

This fortnight 12 tribals were killed in a police firing in Orissa. Their crime: protesting against the acquisition of their land for an industrial park. The state says that it had 'acquired' some 4856 ha of land some years ago and paid handsome 'compensation' to people who held land rights. It is another matter that it sold the same land to Tata Steel company, against whose bhoomi puja, the local tribals protested, for six times the price it paid to poor landowners. But for the state government this protest is about the anti-development lobby in the state - ideologues at best and agents of foreign governments or its competitors in industry. Or it is simply about more violence from Naxalite tribals, who want to terrorise the state, without reason.

But when its first (extremely hamhanded and brutal) efforts to quell dissent failed, Orissa government has responded with offers of enhanced compensation to the dead - from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh; jobs for one member of the bereaved family; and transfer of the district magistrate and superintendent of police. It is another matter again, that the officials have been transferred (not suspended) to higher postings. But with this done, and talks of a new committee to work out future rehabilitation packages, the government hopes to ride the tide once again.

The state is working feverishly on the fact that is sits on huge reserves of minerals - 25 per cent of the country's iron-ore; 60 per cent of its bauxite and 90 per cent of chromite reserves to name just a few. In 1994, the country amended its mining legislation to allow private and foreign investment to explore and exploit 13 minerals, including iron ore and in 1997 added bauxite to the list. Since then, things have not been the same. Investors - Indian and foreign - are beating down the doors of the poor state's poor government to be allowed land for industry and for mining raw material. The state sees itself on a roll.

This is not to say that it has not seen earlier skirmishes. In Kashipur, the bauxite mining project of Utkal Alumina International - a joint venture of the Canada-based alcan with the Aditya Birla group of India, ran into a decade-long struggle. Tribals furious at their lands being taken away for mining agitated; the state responded with police firing in which tribals died, once before and once again. The million tonne a year refinery and its mines in biodiversity rich forests of the Sterlite group faces protests. As was the Jindal group's steel plant and its acquisition of land for its mining. The list goes on. And will.

The problem is that there has been virtually no learning from any of these protests. The truth is that the state is sitting on a real tinderbox. Nearing half the state's area is classified as schedule V area

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