Vedanta University authority promises package for the affected people due to displacement in the project area.

Officials of the Vedanta University on Wednesday held discussions with the Vedanta Virodhi Manch, which has been opposing the university project at Puri on various grounds. The meeting, organised by the Puri district administration, was presided over by Revenue Divisional Commissioner (Central) SN Sadangi. Vice-president of the varsity project Ajit Kumar Samal announced that Vedanta would provide employment to all graduates of the area by the end of 2009 and run public schools to educate the students living in the villages coming under the project area.
Besides, the company would operate door-to-door medical service for humans and livestock in the area, he said. Samal said job cards would be issued to all landless farmers who make out their livelihood by cultivating other's land. Besides, scholarships would be granted to the meritorious students with special care to girls.
A number of schools and colleges would be established for capacity building of the students of the area and all primary schools would have the mid-day meal programme, he added. Samal further elaborated about various benefits to be given to the affected people and appealed to them to cooperate in the implementation of the project. Leaders of the Vedanta Virodhi Manch, who participated in the discussions, made several queries to Samal, who replied that the company would hold talks on all the proposals with the villagers before taking any decision on them. Sadangi directed the revenue officers present at the meeting that a special survey of the temple land measuring over a thousand acres under the acquisition process for the project be conducted within 10 days to ascertain the status of land acquisition. About 60 village leaders of the Vedanta Virodhi Manch, led by its president Benudhar Pradhan, participated at the meeting. District Collector Rashmi Ranjan Pattnaik and Superintendent of Police Asit Kumar Panigrahi also participated in the discussions.
A meeting of the District Rehabilitation and Periphery Development Advisory Committee would be held on March 4 to settle the outlines and modalities for rehabilitation of the people to be displaced from their villages coming under the project area, the Revenue Divisional Commissioner informed.