Married women in Odisha turn heat on NTPC

ROURKELA: Married women of displaced families on Tuesday shut down coal mining and transportation at NTPC’s Dulanga mines in Hemgir block protesting their ‘wrongful’ exclusion from Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R) benefits.

However, they called off their stir later in the day after the administration sought time till April 25 to look into their demands.

In the morning, the agitating women with support of villagers and local outfits closed coal extraction and transportation at the mines which exclusively feeds coal to Darlipali Super Thermal Power. 

Twenty-six-year-old Nirupama Pradhan said they have been unjustly excluded from the R&R benefits for the fault of Odisha government, Sundargarh district administration and the NTPC.

Notification for land acquisition was issued in 2010 following which family survey was carried out in 2012.

Her family’s 15 acre land was earmarked for acquisition at Dulanga. She was also counted as a single family member.

However, Nirupama married in 2014 and to her dismay, she found out that her name was deleted from the R&R matrix in 2017. 

Describing it as gender discrimination, Nirupama said women like her should not be allowed to suffer as the administration is lingering land acquisition for years. 

With the women’s protest threatening to disrupt power generation at the nearby Darlipali plant, the district administration intervened and managed to persuade the agitators to call of their protest.

Sundargarh Sub-Collector and Administrator, R&R Abhimanyu Behera said the administration’s inquiry report sought by Odisha Human Rights Commission would be shared with the affected women.

Besides, the issue would be discussed in next rehabilitation and periphery development advisory committee meeting. 

NTPC’s group general manager for Dulanga Mines CR Barik said the R&R matrix was finalised in October, 2017 after the RPDAC meeting.

The existing land acquisition guidelines do not permit R&R benefits to married daughters. The NTPC has no control over the issue, he added.