Medha: New cause

Jamshedpur, Nov. 30: Echoes of the Narmada struggle will reverberate across the state with Medha Patkar set to lend her voice to the protest against takeover of land to facilitate industries.

Patkar will be joined by former ST/SC commissioner B.D. Sharma and state functionary of the Bharat Jan Andolan?s Bandi Oraon.

Sharma, a former commissioner of the central Scheduled Tribe/Scheduled Caste Commission, under whose tenure the Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act was passed, will tomorrow address a gathering of to-be-displaced villagers at Khairboni in East Singhbhum district, the proposed site for the Jindal group?s steel plant.

Khairboni is one of the villages out of a lot of 16 which is to be acquired by Jindal Steel and Power Limited for setting up a five-million-tonne steel plant and a coal-based captive power unit. The group has applied for over 5,500 acres, both from the government and private parties.

Sharma, a retired IAS officer and national president of the Bharat Jan Andolan, said the organisation would rally behind the indigenous people of Jharkhand. ?During my frequent visits to Jharkhand, I have been approached by the local people to be displaced by proposed industries to come up in their area. The original settlers of the region, both tribals and non-tribals, who have had a bad experience of displacement, have been left in a confused state,? Sharma said from Ranchi, where he took part in today?s rally of the Adivasi Adhikar Morcha.

Sharma said Patkar, the spearhead of the Narmada Bachao Andolan, had agreed to associate herself with the movement. Patkar will visit Jamshedpur on Friday to participate in a panel discussion.

Sharma was of the view that the local population is not blatantly against the investment proposals. ?But development should be for the people. According to the Bhuria committee?s recommendations, 50 per cent of profit share should go to the respective owners of natural resources, in this case land. The investors should only hold less then 26 per cent of the total profit,? Sharma said.

Asked about the profit-sharing between the investors and landowners, Sharma said: ?The tribals have been cheated in all development projects. Due to influx of people from outside, they have been reduced to a minority and forced to do a job of daily labourer. We will try and ensure this does not happen in the state.?