NEW DELHI: An independent fact-finding team has demanded a White Paper on the Pohang Steel Company Limited (Posco) project in Jagatsinghpur district of Orissa, pending which it has asked the State to halt the implementation of the project.

Calling for a democratic dialogue between the State Government and the people concerned, the team said the project should not be allowed to come up against the wishes of those affected by it. And, as a first step towards building such an atmosphere, police and para-military forces deployed in the surrounding areas should be withdrawn immediately.

The team, comprising independent observers Sumit Chakravarty, Sridevi Pannikkar, Bijulal M.V, and Manshi Asher, visited the site in April to get an insight into the concerns raised by the affected communities. A strong people's resistance has been going on in parts of Jagatsinghpur against the steel plant and the captive port proposed in the area since July 2005, a month after Posco and the Orissa Government signed a memorandum of understanding on the project.

The White Paper is being sought in the interest of making the information and the processes related to the largest-ever Foreign Direct Investment in India available to all concerned in the wake of the protests.

Describing the project as a case of clear "misuse" of the Land Acquisition Act, 1984, the team's report strongly recommends that the Government should not use the Act to acquire land for companies or to coerce people to give up their land. A permanent legal recognition of the tenurial rights of the people who would be displaced must be recognised, regularisation and settlement process must be guaranteed in a time-bound manner.

Quoting the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment, the report suggests that the rights given to the communities under these amendments to plan the use of their natural resources, which include riparian rights and rights to common property resources must be protected.

Importantly, the report warns that in the prevailing situation there is every possibility of a confrontation breaking out; such a confrontation could lead to violence and take the shape of civil war. Every effort should be made by all concerned to prevent such an eventuality in the larger interest.

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