Team News Riveting
Udaipur, June 19
The Gram Sabha organized for the rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) in Ghatbarra village located in Udaipur tehsil of Surguja district in Chhattisgarh on Wednesday concluded peacefully.
The district administration has convened the gram sabha for Parsa East Kete Basen (PEKB) open mine project of Rajasthan State Electricity Generation Corporation Limited, operated by the Government of Rajasthan.
Accordingly, a special Gram Sabha was organized on Wednesday for consultation in the rehabilitation, resettlement plan of Parsa East, Kete, Basen open mine project in village Ghatbarra. CEO District Udaipur Ved Prakash Gupta, SDM BR Khande, Tehsildar Chandrashila Jaiswal, Naib Tehsildar Akash Gautam, Panchayat Inspector Vipin Chauhan were present in the Gram Sabha meeting. The responsibility of conducting the stage and quorum in the meeting was given to the village secretary Gopal Ram, Sarpanch Jayanandan Porte, Gram Sabha President Naval Singh and the Panchs.
Hundreds of villagers were present in the Gram Sabha that started at 11 am in the Gram Panchayat Bhawan of Ghatbarra village. BR Khande, who was present on the stage in the meeting, mentioned the proposed facilities to be given to the displaced and affected under the rehabilitation and resettlement policy. He also sought suggestions from the villagers so that appropriate amendments can be made in the facilities to be given.
During the hearing, female villager Parvatiya demanded assistance for building a paved road and opening a shop in the displaced village. Khande assured to be considered. Similarly, Munna Yadav and Krishnachandra Yadav discussed in detail about all the facilities related to their displacement and they seemed satisfied with the administration’s response. Although some villagers raised slogans in protest in the meeting, but then they calmed down after the persuasion of administrative officials.
It is worth mentioning that 350 hectares of private land of Ghatbarra village is to be acquired for the mining of the second phase of Parasa East Kete Basen open coal mine project of Rajasthan State Electricity Generation Corporation Limited.
After giving proper compensation amount to more than 1200 local people for land acquisition, a special rehabilitation and resettlement policy is to be prepared for their displacement, so that they and their families do not face any kind of problem. Under this, there is a provision of arrangement of house and plot for displaced families, transportation expenses for displacement, amount for construction of cattle shed, resettlement allowance, grant amount, job to one member of the family, amount for Swarajgor (self-employment), old age pension, medical facility etc.
When the mine is operationalized, 500 to 700 people from the village will not only get jobs, but better schools, scholarships etc. are also ensured for the children.
Also, in the rehabilitation colony, special care is taken of basic needs like paved roads, drains, lighting, pure drinking water, fair price shop, Anganwadi Bhawan, Haat Bazaar, school building, public playground, primary health center, community building, construction of crematorium or cemetery, establishment of temple and mosque and arrangement of toilets.
In the Parsa East Kete Basen coal mining project of Rajasthan State Electricity Generation Corporation Limited, which has received a 5-star rating from the Ministry of Coal for four consecutive years, more than 3500 people are currently employed directly while more than 7000 people are indirectly employed. At the same time, the Central and Chhattisgarh governments are getting more than Rs 2000 crore annually from this mine in the form of various taxes.
