SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, Nov 10: The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) Dhanbad district unit has served HURL Sindri unit management to the gherao plant for an indefinite period from November 14 if land losers and local youth are not given employment.
The JMM-affiliated union has been staging a dharna at the gate of the HURL Sindri plant for the last two weeks demanding jobs for displaced persons of the Fertilizer Corporation of India and local youth of the surrounding villages.
JMM district president Ramesh Tudu on Wednesday evening announced that since the HURL management has not taken cognizance of the displaced persons’ demands despite them sitting on dharna at the plant gate for the last two weeks, the JMM is compelled to block the gate for an indefinite period from November 14.
Tudu alleged that the plant management gets the work of urea packing, loading and dispatching done from people of other states such as Bihar, Bengal, Assam, Odisha and Rajasthan but do not give the opportunity to local and displaced persons.
“It is surprising that when the Jharkhand government has recommended 75% employment to locals in the state-based industry then why the HURL management is not implementing that notification,” said JMM president Tudu.
Notably, HURL has come up in place of the Fertilizer Corporation of India which was shut down in December 2002. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid the foundation stone of the HURL Sindri, Barauni and Gorakhpur plants on May 25, 2018.
HURL Sindri unit has started its commercial production of neem-coated urea from Monday. Due to Covid followed by trade union agitation, the commissioning of the plant got delayed for two years. Earlier, it had to start production on December 31, 2020, but it began production on November 7, 2022.
