Villagers Displaced By MCL Project Boycott Polls In Odisha Protesting Delay In R&R Claims Settlement

Sundagarh: Several villagers, who were displaced due to an opencast mining project of Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL) in Odisha’s Sundargarh district, boycotted the elections on Monday.

The project oustees of five villages, including Kripasira, Tumulia and Jhupurunga, stayed away from voting during the second phase of polling protesting failure on the part of the authorities to settle their rehabilitation and resettlement (R & R) claims as per the order of the Supreme Court.

Sources said the displaced villagers had held a meeting on May 17 and decided to boycott the polls as a mark of protest. They alleged that the R&R issues remained unresolved despite repeated requests and agitation by them over the same for last 30 years.

They said that the Apex Court had on November 3, 2022 directed the MCL authorities to settle the R & R claims of displaced people of around 14 villages within nine months. However, the order of the Supreme Court is yet to be followed, they claimed.

The protesters claimed that the Supreme Court had directed the authorities to provide ten decimal homestead land and house to each of the displaced families of the mining project area.

Moreover, the MCL authorities had agreed to provide jobs to at least one person from each displaced family under the Odisha Resettlement and Rehabilitation Policy – 2006 and Odisha Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013, they claimed, adding that no job has been provided to any affected family.