Bhubaneswar | April 07, 2015: The joint action committee of 'Kendujharia Meli' has decided to call off the week-long economic blockade on Wednesday after assurances by state finance minister Pradip Amat to fulfil their demands.
The minister held a marathon meeting last evening on the blockade that had crippled supplies of iron ore and coal as over 5,000 trucks went off the roads and rendered nearly 15,000 mine workers out of work. "The blockade will be called off on Wednesday. We have agreed to their key demand for a medical college at Keonjhar. The state government will send a proposal to the Government of India (GoI) in this regard. If the GoI does not agree, we will mobilise funds from PSUs to set up the medical college," Amat said.
"Regarding the other key demand for a steel plant at Keonjhar, the state government is open to it and we are already in talks with Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) on the matter," the minister said.
The blockade that started last week was suspended till April 8 after negotiations with the Keonjhar collector. The joint action committee had threatened to launch an indefinite economic blockade from April 9 if their five-point charter of demands were not met.
The demands included setting up of a medical college, a university, an agriculture university, a mega steel plant, all at Keonjhar and a rail link connecting Anandpur and Champua.
The economic blockade had triggered stopping of operations of 10 mines in Keonjhar district. The Eastern Railway sustained a loss of Rs 16 crore as mineral transportation came to a grinding halt.
(Source: http://www.business-standard.com/)