By Our Correspondent
PARADIP/BHUBANESWAR: Call it Sajjan Jindal’s Look East Steel Policy, getting foothold in Odisha.After venturing into State’s western parts through Bhushan Power and Steel Acquisition under Jharsuguda-Sambalpur belt, JSW Steel now seems, getting positive responses in coastal districts of Jagatsinghpur for its Integrated Steel Plant, technical process and other works for which is underway.
The JSW Steel, in a statement on Friday, said, Rs 196 Crore budget earmarked for periphery development while focus on manpower and equipment saturation for Dhinkia PHC and upgradation of Dhinkia school.Apart from that, around 1000, people from the project site to be engaged at different JSW projects across India (Vijaynagar, Dolvi, Jharsuguda and others, where JSW has presence) and study proposed for employment eligibility assessment across skill domains .
To ensure a collaborative process for rolling out JSW Integrated Steel Plant, tripartite discussions at the district and GP level have been held successfully with massive participation of villagers, district administration and JSW senior officials. To ensure last mile connect, village level discussions for eliciting public opinion and concerns are scheduled. The first village meeting was held at Govindpur today amid discernible pro-industry support among villagers and other stakeholders.
Subsequent to the productive district tripartite meeting held on Nov 10 ’21 with participation of PRI, PS & Zilla Parishad members, district administration and JSW, GP level roll out was ensured at Gadakujang on Nov 16 ‘21 followed by the meeting at Nuagaon on Nov 17 ’21. This was followed by a meeting at Dhinkia on Nov 21 ‘21. All the GP level meetings have concluded peacefully with about 3500 people participating all together. As a follow up, the first village meeting was hosted at Govindpur with participation from 200 villagers, district administration & JSW and was concluded with productive dialogue between all parties concerned.
Alternative livelihood & employment, health & education intervention, environment & water came across as the topmost concerns among villagers and were addressed by the district administration & the company officials adequately. A roadmap to initiate livelihood engagement for people at the project site was announced by JSW.
Livelihood Intervention: Company will shortly deploy a reputed agency to assess skill gap in the area and accordingly plan batch wise skill training in collaboration with the Government. Subsequent to skill-gap analysis, household survey to nominate the employable candidates would be taken up.
To mark the beginning there is a plan to engage 500 people from the ISP area across different JSW projects in India depending on suitability & requirement. Camps in December at the ISP site for selection of eligible youth for training and subsequent placement at Vijkaynagar, Dolvi and BPSL JSW plant would be taken up.
Enterprise Facilitation, Training & Linkage for SHGs: Currently company is engaging with SHGs to understand their Knowledge, Skill & Attitude. Based on the findings,JSW has plans to involve 30 groups for livelihood promotion in the first phase. An outlay of 57Cr INR toward vocational & skill training is there.
Public Health: The company has initiated the process for deputing one doctor and team from Balitutha PHC to Dhinkia PHC during the second half of the day for 4 days a week to cater to the immediate need. Currently the govt. doctor is visiting Dhinkia PHC 2 days per week. Other small renovation and saturation of basic equipment at Dhinkia PHC will be taken up on a priority basis. Besides, MMU in project site and multi-specialty hospital in the project site has been proposed. A total of 24 Cr INR has been earmarked for the same.
Education: In collaboration with the administration, JSW would aid in the transformation of Nuagaon and Dhinkia High Schools under Mo-School Abhiyan.Primary Education: We are currently assessing all Anganwadis of the 3 G.Ps toprovide necessary teaching learning materials for children along with other basic amenities such as water and sanitation.
Water, Sanitation & Hygiene: For Ground Water concerns raised by villagers, the company is planning to engage an institution of repute (IIT/IMMT/any other water expert institute) to study the effect of the ISP project on ground water and subsequent mitigation measures would be taken up.
Drinking water: A rapid needs assessment of Trilochanpur in-terms of short/medium term drinking water solution would be taken up shortly. Rs. 20 Cr has been earmarked for piped supply to augment govt. intervention.
Energy Intervention: Demand for street lights have been taken into account and we are in the process of providing the same. For various area development intervention, plantation and Swachh Bharat Mission, 77.25 Cr INR outlay is planned.The district administration team led by Parul Patawari, Collector Jagatsinghpur moderated and mediated the discussion. Minister Water Resouces, I & PR, Raghunandan Dash, Jagatsinghpur SP Akhileswar Singh were also present.
JSW Steel is among the largest steelmakers in the world with a current capacity of24.5 MTPA. The steel giant is expanding its steel-making capacity to 36.5 MT by March 2024. In Odisha, JSW Steel operations include a 2.5 MTPA subsidiary BPSL, 30 MT iron ore mines, 5 MT cement plant and 50 MT iron ore & coal terminal at Paradip port. JSW has proposed expansion of its brownfield project from 2.5 MTPA to 10 MTPA in a phased manner as well as setting up a world class 12 MTPA green field facility along with a captive port at Paradip.
