Dhanbad MP raises BSL land issue in Parliament

Bokaro: Dhanbad MP P N Singh has demanded panchayat status for 19 displaced villages located on land acquired by the Bokaro Steel Plant ( BSL ). Raising the issue in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, Singh said people in these villages are living under pathetic conditions because of the lack of development work for them either by the public sector unit (PSU) or by the government.

He said, “As these villages are located on BSL acquired land, the residents didn’t have panchayat status which is hampering development works there. Neither the state government is working for development of these villages nor the BSL is taking any interest in their cause.”

Later, the MP suggested, “The land on which these villages are located is not being used by the company since many years. It seems there are no future expansion plans, too. So in public interest, BSL should hand over the land back to the government so that it can take up the panchayat system there to usher in development.”

There are about 22 displaced groups which keep protesting in this regard against the BSL management frequently, but to no avail.