BHUBANESWAR: The Communist Party of India on Saturday strongly opposed the proposed 12 million tonne mega steel mill project of POSCO-India in Orissa's Jagatsinghpur district. Addressing a press conference here, CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan said that his party would continue its resistance to the project as it was opposed to several clauses in the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Korean company and the Orissa Government.

"Our stand is an emphatic no to POSCO. We are against several provisions of the MoU that smacks of colonial exploitation of Orissa and its mineral resources," Mr. Bardhan said.

The CPI leader questioned clauses in the MoU that promised captive iron ore mines to the company as well as the permission to construct a captive port, a few km away from the existing Paradip port. Clarifying that the CPI was not against mineral-based industrialisation in Orissa, Mr. Bardhan, however, said that no company should be allowed to have captive mines.

"All companies coming forward to set up steel plants in the State should be asked to purchase iron ore from the State government-run Orissa Mining Corporation," Mr. Bardhan said. Referring to the people's resistance to the steel project, Mr. Bardhan criticised Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's "insensitivity" towards the ongoing agitation by the villagers who were likely to be displaced by the proposed steel project.

As regards the recent decision that POSCO authorities would hold direct negotiations with the people to acquire private land for the steel project, Mr. Bardhan said the CPI-backed POSCO Pratirodh Sangram Samiti would not hold any negotiations with the company.

"The samiti, which has been spearheading the agitation against the project, will not allow the State government to acquire the fertile agricultural lands in Jagatsinghpur, sacrificing the people's livelihood for the benefit of POSCO."

Vedanta varsity

The CPI leader also questioned the government's move to hand over thousands of acres of land for the proposed Vedanta University by a trust set up by industrialist Anil Agarwal. "The government should refrain from handing over precious land to corporate houses," Mr. Bardhan observed.

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