The Rehabilitation and Peripheral Development Advisory Committee (RPDAC) of Jagatsinghpur district is meeting on Thursday to finalise the compensation package for the people going to be affected by Posco-India?s 12 million tonne steel project in the district.
?Notice has been issued to this effect,? said district rehabilitation officer Surjeet Das.
The meeting will be held under the chairmanship of central range revenue divisional commissioner Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra and will be attended by the Jagatsinghpur MP, MLAs, district collector and other officers, besides representatives of Posco-India.
As per the Orissa government?s Rehabilitation and Resettlement Package 2006, the compensation package for the project affected people is required to be endorsed by the RPDAC.
Even though the district administration is claiming that it has completed surveys in seven of the eight villages that are going to be affected due to the project, the United Action Committee ? a pro-project outfit ? has pointed out that the number of betel vines, prawn gheris and trees has come down in the latest survey as compared to the survey conducted in 2008.
?There are about 500 villagers who would be deprived of their compensation because of these discrepancies,? said UAC secretary Nirbhaya Samantray. He demanded that the district administration supply a copy of the survey report to people before taking up the matter at the RPDAC meeting.