Orissa yet to form rehab panel for 13 projects

The Orissa government is yet to form the Rehabilitation and Periphery Development Advisory Committees (RPDAC) for 13 large projects in the state.

The formation of RPDAC at the project level, which is prescribed in the Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R & R) policy of the state government, is a mechanism to encourage participation of displaced people and their elected representatives in the implementation and monitoring of the R & R package and periphery development work of a particular project.

The projects for which RPDACs have not been formed included those proposed by Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL), Essar Steel Orissa Ltd, Brahmani River Pellets Ltd, Brand Alloys Ltd, Aryan Iron and Steel Company and Kusum Powermet Ltd in Keonjhar district, GMR Energy Ltd., Lanco Babandh Power Ltd, CESC Ltd. and MGM Steels in Dhenkanal district, Hindusthan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) at Sunabeda (Koraput district), Mandakini Coal Ltd at Talcher in Angul district and multi-product economic zone of Tata Steel at Goplapur (Ganjam district).

On the other hand, the government has formed these committees for 65 industrial projects in the state, which includes 7 projects in central parts of the state, 49 projects in the northern region and 6 in southern region. The projects in the central region for which RPDACs have been formed are Kalinganagar Integrated Industrial Complex, Essar Steel Orissa (Jagatsingpur), Paradeep Phosphate, Kargil India, IFFCO Fertilisers Plant (OSWAL) and Maheswari Ispat.