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Job jeopardy rekindles red signs by Kumud Jenamani

Closed mines and resultant unemployment are still stoking Naxalism in Saranda, a maiden jan adalat (public hearing) held 160km from the steel city insisted today, indicating that more needed to be done to make the much-touted central action plan for the red turf a long-lasting success.

More than 1,000 villagers from the Maoist dens of Noamundi, Gua, Kiriburu and Barajamda among others, which fall in the mining belt of Saranda command area, congregated at Jamda around 11am for the three-hour grievance audience held jointly by the West Singhbhum district administration and forest department.

Deputy commissioner K. Srinivasan presided over the public hearing that was also attended by SP Arun Kumar Singh, divisional forest officer (Chaibasa south) S.R. Natesh, divisional forest officer (Saranda) K.K. Tiwary and regional officer of Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board (JSPCB) R.N. Choudhary.

During the marathon hearing, villagers highlighted how unemployment had left them hungry and demanded reopening of iron ore and manganese mines, many of which have been lying closed for more than two decades. They harped that closed mines triggered unemployment, which aided Maoists and their ideologies to wean away village youths from the social mainstream.

“There was a time when we used to earn a decent livelihood by working in the iron ore or manganese mines. But now, most mines are closed for some reason or the other. This has facilitated illegal mining and is compelling youths to join rebel outfits, which are trying to reorganise (after CRPF flushout),” said Gurucharan Naik, a resident of Noamundi.

CRPF DIG Bhanu Pratap Singh, who is based in Chaibasa, however, said he had no report of resurgence of Maoist activities in Saranda. “In fact, it is a very tricky situation. They (Maoists) will like to exploit both situations. If mines are operational, they will launch propaganda that the government is exploiting natural resources. And if mines are closed, they will exploit the problem to lure the youth,” he maintained.

“There should be no dearth of job opportunities in Saranda either as people are being employed under MGNREGS,” he claimed.

But villagers had a different story to tell.

Ramesh Tirkey, a resident of Kiriburu, stressed that they were reposing much faith in the public hearing. “Humlog iss jan adalat mein bahut umeed ke sath aaye hai. Sarkar bandh pade khadano ko kholne mein madat karein aur humein rozi-roti dein. (We have come with much hope. The government must help reopen closed mines so that we have jobs,” he said.

“Pehli baar iss tarah ka jan adalat yahan pe ho raha hai. Aap sab dekhein hum logon ki kasht aur usse door karne ki koshish karein. Hum mehnat ki kamai pe biswas rakhte hai. Humein kaam chahiye (It is for the first time such a hearing is being organised here. You have seen our problems, please try to eliminate them. We believe in hard work. We want jobs),” added his neighbour Sonaram Hansdah.

Sources in the forest department revealed that as many as 25 iron ore and manganese mines in the Saranda belt had been shut down over the years for reasons such as lack of forest and environment clearance. “Of the 25, 20 had to be closed in the absence of forest clearance and necessary nod from JSPCB. The rest were shut down for other unavoidable reasons,” a source said.

Currently, only seven mines — including the Meghahatuburu iron ore mines of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) — are operational in Saranda.

The villagers, who urged the administration to pave the way for reopening of mines, also highlighted allied problems such as scarcity of drinking water, poor or no power supply, bad road communication and dismal healthcare.

After hearing out their woes, deputy commissioner Srinivasan assured the villagers that he would take up their complaints with respective government departments and ensure implementation of corrective measures at the earliest.

“This was the first time such a public hearing was organised in the mining belt of Saranda. The hearing was held because we felt that the views of local residents vis-à-vis mining activities in the area should be taken into consideration for bringing about a healthy change in the forest territory,” Chaibasa south divisional forest officer Natesh said. He added that they had jotted down each and every grievance for further action.

Soon after the public hearing, officials from the forest and mining departments, along with JSPCB and district functionaries, surveyed closed mines in and around Saranda’s villages. This spot recce is likely to provided the desired fillip to the Saranda Action Plan, launched in December last year, to dole out BPL cards, extend housing and forest rights titles and employ youths of the forest to ensure holistic development of the erstwhile Maoist stronghold.