Anti-Posco activists oppose foundation

The anti-Posco activists under the banner of the Posco Pratirodha Sangram Samiti (PPSS), the organization spearheading the movement against the Posco project in Orissa, have strongly protested the formation of Posco Foundation by the South Korean steel major to promote philanthropic activities in the project affected area.

These activists have vowed not to accept any assistance from Posco towards health, education and other developmental issues.

As a mark of protest, PPSS organised parallel two-day health camps at Dhinkia and Gobindpur villages within the proposed Posco plant site near Paradip. Through these health camps, PPSS wants to demonstrate that it is not dependent on Posco for addressing healthcare needs of the local people. A six-member team of doctors from Delhi and Bangalore sent by different Janmanch Sangathans visited Dhinkia and Gobindpur and examined the health of the villagers in Posco project affected area. Nearly 300 patients of Gobindpur and 400 patients of Dhinkia availed free treatment and medicines from this team on Wednesday.

Posco had recently announced that it is going to set up the Posco Foundation as a part of its CSR (corporate social responsibility) initiative for taking up various welfare activities in health and education for the people affected by its steel project.

Following this announcement, Abhaya Sahoo, president, PPSS had threatened to bar the entry of the Posco officials to the project site for launching the foundation.

Similarly, the PPSS activists had vowed not to accept any help from Posco even if the people died for want of food and health services. They threatened to foil the plans of Posco to win the hearts of the locals and generate public support for the project by introducing what they termed as false and fake welfare activities. It may be noted that both Dhinkia and Gobindpur villages do not have adequate health service facilities.