Threat of Violence against women activists at TATA STEEL Public Hearing – March 12th

THE TATA STEEL PUBLIC HEARING

DATE0 MARCH 12TH, 2012

time- 11am – 1pm

VENUE- D. A V SCHOOL,  Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO ) , Noamundi ( which is a violation of MOEF, history repearing again )

Noamundi is a census town in Pashchimi Singhbhum district in the Indian state of Jharkhand. It is also an administrative ‘block’. It is a small mining town in close to the Orissa border. It lies near to Jamshedpur and 64 km (40 mi) from Chaibasa. Nearby towns include Padapahar, Barajamda, Kharsawan, Gua and Kiriburu.Noamundi, in the West  Si n g h b h u m d i s tr i c t o f  Jharkhand, is the iron ore
capital of India. Most of the  mines here are being run by  the Tatas.The area is also one  of the most polluted. Red iron ore dust from mining activity around Noamundi  covers every surface affecting crops, animals and humans.
For more infromation contact-  09471315165 for more details

 

 “On 12th March their Noamundi mines TATA STEEL is having a public hearing for extension of lease their mines. They have tried it in 20054 and the villagers drove them away. This time they are using all kinds of pressure tactics on Omon Mahila Samiti and JMACC threatening violence etc. The former CM of Jharkhand Babulal Marandi has guaranteed the TATAS that he will get this public hearing done at any cost. Babulal send a journalist to Oman telling them that if they oppose then the State will brand them as Maoist. We fear violence on that day. Journalist who can please help by covering the news. “

What will happen on march 12, 2012, a  Repeat of Septemebr 25th 2004 

LATEST UPDATE

Jeshoda Das is a nurse at the TISCO Mines hospital in Jodda Orissa some km from Noamundi in Jharkhand. For the past two weeks she is being mentally tortured by the GM of TISCO. Her fault? Her elder sister Ambika Das is the leader of Oman Mahila Sangathan leading the movement against the Public Hearing to be held on 12th of March. The GM and others from their personnel department has told her that she will loose her job if Oman does not withdraw the agitation against the mines extension.

Jeshoda has told the GM point blank that they can throw her out but she does not want her people to suffer because of her job.

The other good point in the movement is that a majority of the Adivasi Traditional tribal chiefs known as Mundas are with Oman. TISCO is trying to purchase them. Rice beer and cash is being poured into these villages to divide the people.

WE HAVE ALSO JUST RECEIVED NEWS THAT THE POLICE HAVE BEEN GIVEN ORDERS FOR A LATHI CHARGE. AN ORDER FOR LATHI CHARGE MEANS THAT A FIRING ORDER TOO IS IN PLACE. THE JUST APPOINTED CHAIRMAN OF TATAS CYRUS MISTRY HAS COMPLETED A TOUR OF THE NOAMUNDI MINES THIS WEEEK IN PREPARATION FOR THE PUBLIC HEARING.’

Jharkhand’s  Curse.

Natural water resources have been drying up or polluted over the decades due to mining and consequent change in weather conditions. Noamundi used to get tons of rain in the early 90s but now there is no method to the rains in Noamundi. Local people attribute this to the devastation of forests and indiscriminate mining.

For a better part of the 20th century, Tata Steel went on to become synonymous with Indian industrialisation, social philanthropy and ethical capitalism. Long before fair labour practices were enshrined in Indian law or adopted in the West, the company introduced an eight-hour working day, equal pay for equal work, maternity benefits, worker’s accident compensation and profit-sharing bonuses. For five decades at the helm of the Tata business empire, JRD Tata was credited with infusing Tata Steel with a “people-first” approach that earned the company its continuing competitive edge – strong loyalty and high productivity from its workers, allowing it to produce good quality steel at low costs. All the leading business figures of the Tata family set personal examples by bequeathing large portions of their personal wealth to philanthropic trusts, run by the Tata holding group for social welfare and advancement.

Fast-forward to the post-liberalisation era of the 90s and slowly, Tata Steel’s ethical tilt began to appear more like an ethical veneer. The company’s head of communications, Sanjay Choudhary had been quick to dismiss Kalinganagar as “a stray incident [that] should not derail a good thing.” In reality, it was not a stray incident. In August 1997, two women were crushed to death during a protest rally against Tata Steel’s proposal to set up a steel plant in Gopalpur-on-Sea, a coastal town in Orissa. Three years later, the company was forced to abandon the proposal following protests from over 20,000 people. In 2000, three tribal youth were shot dead by the police during a peaceful demonstration near a proposed Tata Steel bauxite-mining site in Rayagada district, Orissa. In Kalinganagar itself, since the 2006 incident there have been a dozen more mining-related deaths, of which — were due to protests against Tata Steel, according to news reports.

In  2004  in Noamundi, the September 25 public hearing was held inside the premises of the Tata Iron and Steel Company — something which was a violation of the Environment Ministry’s statutory norms. According to Chokro Khandait of the Chaibasa-based Jharkhand Organisation for Human Rights (JOHAR), the villagers fear TISCO’s expanded mining operations will lead to the loss of their lands. They wanted to speak out in the public hearing, to air their views. But the police stopped them  before they  could come near the premises. But according to TATA official Release -300 people from nearby villages attended the hearing , which actually mostly  TISCO employees.

SO, now what will TATA STEEL do, hire goons, no why should they when they have the State support.

But how come, the legality of this meeting is not questioned if it is against the   Environment Ministry’s statutory norms.

Please share  widely THE TATA STEEL PUBLIC HEARING FOR EXTENSION OF LEASE IS ILLEGAL, until and unless the affected villagers are heard and convinced , the mining lease cannot be extended.

Lets all PROTEST

so please share widely on your  blog, website, twitter, Fb page

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