‘Dues of 54 JSW beneficiaries blocked by admin’

PARADIP: Accusing the district administration and JSW authorities of not releasing compensation to some of the land losing beneficiaries after their betel vines were demolished for the steel plant, panchayat samiti member of Dhinkia has warned of an agitation if the demands are not addressed within 15 days.PS member Mitanjali Bhoi alleged that compensation and sustenance allowance of 54 betel vine owners have been blocked as most of them had petitioned against the district administration to the Orissa High Court regarding police atrocities in one of the anti-JSW protests during January this year.

She also claimed that dues of many beneficiaries who had given land for Posco project are also pending. “I submitted list of 54 beneficiaries who are yet to be compensated to Erasama tehsildar on May 9 but did not get a response,” she said, adding that she will take to agitation if no action is taken within 15 days.A compensation of Rs 17,500 per decimal has been declared towards demolition of betel vine besides sustenance allowance of Rs 88,000.

Sources said Erasama tehsildar had furnished the beneficiary list to JSW. On the other hand, JSW authorities said, “Out of 54 beneficiaries mentioned by the PS member, it was found that payment of 15 beneficiaries have been blocked due to court petition. The process to release dues of other beneficiaries will be completed soon. Block list of petitioners are under district administration’s purview and have not been handed over to JSW.”Despite multiple attempts, Collector Parul Patwari was not available to give any clarification in this regard.