Pro-Posco oustees to stage dharna before Naveen`s residence

A number of displaced families who supported the Posco project said they would stage a dharna at Odisha Chief Minister`s residence on April 26.

Paradip (Odisha): A number of displaced families who supported the Posco project on Monday said they would stage a dharna at Odisha Chief Minister`s residence on April 26 in the wake of reports that government may leave out their village from the project area due to opposition by locals.

"We will walk all the way from Badagabapur in Posco area to Bhubaneswar and stage a dharna before Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik`s residence on April 26," said Chandan Mohanty, a representative of one of the 52 families comprising 200 heads of Patana village from Dhinkia gram panchayat in Jaganathpur district. Mohanty said they were being given a meagre Rs 20 per head daily for sustenance and uncertainty stared at them as the government was reportedly thinking of leaving out their village from the project area because of opposition by local people. Mohanty said women, children and elderly persons would also set out for Bhubaneswar to highlight their neglect and demanding their well-being. Driven out on June 26, 2007 from their village the pro-Posco families were given shelter by the administration in a tin-roofed transit colony. A Posco protagonist said that their future was uncertain as that they had lost everything after being thrown out. He said that they had supported the administration in face of strong anti-Posco protests but now felt let down. PTI