The Orissa government on Friday announced a Rs 70-crore rehabilitation package for the 3,000 people who will be displaced by the steel plant being set up by South Korean steel major Posco in Jagatsinghpur district.
The package has fixed a compensation of Rs 17 lakh per acre of private land, Rs 11.50 lakh per acre for land under betel vine cultivation and Rs 2 lakh per acre for ponds used for prawn production. People who have encroached on government land will also receive compensation.
Further, each displaced family will be allotted a three-room pucca house with a cowshed and receive a Rs 5,000 relocation allowance. Larger or joint families will get bigger houses and those that don’t want new houses will be paid Rs 1.66 lakh.
The package – finalised on Thursday night at a meeting of the Rehabilitation & Peripheral Development Advisory Committee set up for the purpose – comes amid a festering resistance movement by local residents, who say the project will destroy their livelihood that thrives on shrimp farming and cultivation of betel leaves – a highly profitable crop.
“We hope the people will accept it,” said. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
{{/usCountry}}“We hope the people will accept it,” said. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
{{/usCountry}}This is the first time a rehabilitation package has been unveiled for the people who will be displaced by the greenfield project costing $12 billion (Rs 55,200 crore).