Unused and Additional land to be recovered from Industries :Orissa Govt.

Media workshop conducted on rehabilitation policy in Bhubaneswar.
Industries to submit balance sheet of land use,Public say in allotment of land :Orissa Govt.
The Orissa Government has decided to retrieve additional land from industries, which have not been utilizing those for years.“We will write to industries to justify their possession of surplus land. If they fail to give satisfactory reply, government will consider taking back the land allotted to these industries,” State Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Manmohan Samal said here on Thursday.He was speaking at the first media workshop on State’s rehabilitation and resettlement policy and its implication.
The industries in both private and public sector would have to submit balance sheet of their land use since inception of their units in the State,” Mr Samal said. “We will soon start the process.” Replying to questions, national consultant of UNDP S. M. Jaamadar said transparency should be maintained in assessing land requirement for any upcoming project.
A major portion of Detailed Project Report (DPR) should be placed before general public for securing their say in land allotment like being done in disclosure of Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report in public hearings, Mr. Jaamadar said.
He said the rehabilitation and resettlement process had been left to industries while the Ggovernment would have to ensure if people were getting their proper dues in lieu of the displacement.The industries had been bluntly told that their role in rehabilitation and resettlement was compulsory while they could consider their Corporate Social Responsibility as charity, said Mr. Jaamadar, who is also Commissioner-cum-Secretary with revenue department of Karnataka.Addressing the sensitization workshop, B. N. Dash, director of Rehabilitation and Resettlement Directorate, said industries coming up after the new policy would have to abide the provisions. “We are also persuading the industries those had come up before to adopt the new rehabilitation and resettlement policy so that people facing displacement would be benefited,” Mr. Dash said.Among others, Pradeep Jena of UNDP and Minister of Information and Public Relations Debasish Nayak were present on the occasion.