TN assembly debates NLC land acquisition issue

The NLC India authorities have identified 1,711 vacancies and during talks with the Tamil Nadu government, they have assured priority in recruitment for people of Cuddalore region whose lands are proposed to be acquired, State Industries Minister Thangam Thennarasu informed the Assembly on Friday.The Minister, responding to call attention motion by MLAs over due compensation and job opportunities to people who parted with their land for NLC, said the PSU to a large extent fulfilled the electricity needs of Tamil Nadu.

The NLC India authorities have identified 1,711 vacancies and during talks with the Tamil Nadu government, they have assured priority in recruitment for people of Cuddalore region whose lands are proposed to be acquired, State Industries Minister Thangam Thennarasu informed the Assembly on Friday.

The Minister, responding to call attention motion by MLAs over due compensation and job opportunities to people who parted with their land for NLC, said the PSU to a large extent fulfilled the electricity needs of Tamil Nadu. Fresh land acquisition has become very important for mining fresh lignite reserves to augment power generation capacity, he said. As regards land acquisition, phased (starting from August 2022 till recent times) talks have been held with farmers and land owners. Ministers MRK Panneerselvam (Agriculture) and C V Ganesan (Labour Welfare) took part in such deliberations and have extended maximum help and support to farmers/land owners. The demand of the land owning people could be broadly divided into four parts. Permanent job opportunities to those who part with their lands, setting up a 'sangam' and ensuring job opportunities for others in that area through Annual Maintenance Contracts, increased compensation and rehabilitation initiatives. The NLC administration has identified 1,711 vacancies and during talks with the Tamil Nadu government, NLC authorities assured priority in recruitment for people whose lands are proposed to be acquired. They would be given priority in job opportunities and they shall get an additional 20 marks in recruitment tests. The NLC authorities have assured that they would implement this during the recruitment process to fill vacancies for over 1,700 positions. The NLC has agreed for AMC through the sangam. Chief Minister M K Stalin has announced a high level committee to ensure that the NLC fulfills its assurances. The focus is appropriate compensation at the right time, making sure that people get job opportunities and rehabilitation tasks are carried out and this is being monitored by the CM and he has given directions to Ministers and officials in this regard, the Minister said. The NLC authorities have agreed to take up Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives in Cuddalore region to the tune of Rs 100 crore. Now, Rs 29 crore has been disbursed (pending amount) towards compensation of Rs 25 lakh per acre to 594 land owners for a total 173.46 hectares. On compensation aspect, he said it was increased to Rs 25 lakh from Rs 23 lakh. As regards other demands, including remaining compensation for land acquisition till 2013, he said the talks are nearing the concluding phase and a grievance redressal centre has also been set up by the government. He asserted that land acquisition is done only if warranted. When the the Jayankondam lignite project became a non-starter, land acquired for that purpose was returned to farmers by Chief Minister Stalin and even the compensation disbursed earlier was not taken back by the government from them. The Tamil Nadu government is committed to farmers' welfare and the government would continue to take steps to protect their interests, he said.

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