‘Orissa to renew MoU with Posco-India soon’

The MoU signed between the state government and Posco-India on June 22,2005 had expired after completion of the fixed five years tenure on June 21,2010.

Though nine months had since passed,the state government had not been able to renew MoU with Posco-India mostly due to addition of some new clauses,sources said.

This apart,the minister said that the department was also considering whether to fix the tenure of MoU for five years or extend it.

The state government has proposed to reserve certain percentage of work force in Posco’s proposed project.

In January,Ramesh had issued an order clearing the South Korean steel maker’s Rs 52,000 crore project in the state,on the condition that state government submits an assurance report that there were no other forest dwellers in the project area.

The state government has maintained that people living in the project area are not tribals,neither do not qualify as “other traditional forest dwellers”,hence cannot claim rights guaranteed under Forest Rights Act.

While according conditional environment clearance to the project on January 31,Ramesh had sought a pointed assurance report from the Orissa government on proper implementation of the Forest Rights Act at the company’s proposed plant site villages.

In today’s letter,Ramesh emphasised provisions of the Forest Rights Act,2006 that explicitly state that no member of a forest dwelling scheduled tribe or other traditional forest dweller shall be evicted or removed from forest land under his occupation till the recognition and verification procedure is completed.