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STATES: CHHATTISGARH
Wheeling A Good Deal
Ajit Jogi seems to have planned
his moves well in manoeuvring the BALCO issue to suit his needs.
By Neeraj Mishra in Korba
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MOVE IT: Workers take out a rally against their management-to-be
(left); and women employees of BALCO, in a symbolic protest, ask
for donations to buy back the company
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As dusk sets in,
workers of the Bharat Aluminium Company (BALCO) plant gather at the dharna
site. Everyone is anxious to know if anything has happened to end the
impasse. Instead, they hear leader after leader holding forth on the virtues
of Chief Minister Ajit Jogi who has assured every help to the striking
workers; the latest is offering to buy BALCO for them. Two things emerge
out of this meeting-as indeed out of every meeting in the past several
days-that workers will not accept Sterlite as their new employer, and
that Jogi will eventually lead them to some sort of honourable settlement.
Jogi has, perhaps by design, become the main source of sustenance for
the strikers who have reposed their faith in his ability to fight their
battle for them.
The man himself is confident: "This episode
is going to change the course of national politics.'' Politics then, is
it? In a curious scenario that has steadily developed over the past few
days, the state Government finds itself defending the workers' rights
while the Centre has been backing the management. The managers at BALCO
have been swift in shifting loyalties and are now with Sterlite. "Jogi
is indulging in dirty politics at the expense of the state and the workers,''
says Shaheer Ahmed, general manager (Personnel and Administration). The
workers have become pawns on a larger chess board, while Jogi and Union
Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie match their skills move for move.
The irony is that all the three parties involved agree divestment is good.
It's the battle for majority stake that's the issue here. "We will
withdraw the strike if Sterlite's share is reduced to 49 per cent or 40
per cent as was originally envisaged,'' says Brahma Singh, president of
INTUC, one of the seven unions jointly running the strike. Jogi had used
the same line a few days earlier.
Trouble at BALCO began long before it became
news. The workers' union had struck work as far back as February 1, 1999
and then again on September 15 last year, drawing the Government's attention
to the imminent transfer of shares. Jogi did not take any note of it till
the deal had finally been struck. He was, however, shrewd enough to get
National Commission for Scheduled Tribes Chairman Dilip Singh Bhuria and
Union Mines Minister Sunderlal Patwa to commit in writing this February
that under the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution no tribal land could
be transferred to non-tribals. After the issue of disinvestment in BALCO
was raised in the Rajya Sabha and Shourie claimed that the state Government
had been taken into confidence through five letters, Jogi promptly released
the letters to the press and said that he had been merely informed after
the deal was finalised. On March 3, Shourie said, "Find me a buyer
who will pay more.'' Jogi wanted 24 hours to present another buyer.
On March 13, Jogi presented a cheque claiming
his Government would buy the plant "to restore the pride of Chhattisgarh''.
His party colleague V.C. Shukla says, "Why did he have to wait for
10 days to do that? If that was Jogi's intention, he should have given
the cheque then and there and the money could have been raised by floating
bonds." Jogi counters this by saying he had to make sure he had the
money and then wait for an appropriate forum like the Supreme Court to
make a real offer.
The chief minister appears to have planned his
moves well. For long considered an outsider, he has smartly manoeuvred
the whole issue to his own advantage. After the initial bout of anti-Madhya
Pradesh rabble-rousing in which the mother state was pilloried for neglecting
the development of the region, the focus has shifted to a more tangible
target like the Union Government with a more intangible issue on hand.
Today there is not a soul in Chhattisgarh who does not believe that Jogi
is the friend and benefactor the state had been waiting for.
With the Bhuria and Patwa letters in hand, Jogi
has also opened another line of fire against the Centre. Notices have
been issued to Disinvestment Secretary Pradeep Baijal to appear in the
court of the Korba sub-divisional magistrate to surrender 700 acres of
excess land encroached upon by BALCO.
This means that Sterlite may be forced to shell
out the market price for the 700 acres on which workers' colonies are
housed. Further, even if the Fifth Schedule is not invoked, then the 695
acres of private land which had been acquired at throwaway prices for
the public-sector unit will now be chargeable at market rate. A total
of some 1,800 acres of land is occupied by BALCO, mostly tribal land-even
the area on which the factory and its offices are standing. If the new
joint-venture company is made to pay the market rate for these, then it
will cost it a neat packet of another Rs 100 crore. On the face of it,
Jogi might appear on a good wicket. The Fifth Schedule, mining rights
and royalties and the Madhya Pradesh Land Revenue Act (MPLR) are still
the biggest weapons in his hands. If, as he and the workers expect, the
deal is not cancelled, then it will be difficult for the new BALCO management
to take control of tribal land. They may face difficulties in acquiring
bauxite from mines which have been leased to them and whose leases can
be withdrawn under provisions of the mining rules. Under Section 45 (V)
of the Minerals Concessions Rules, 1960, the state government can give
a notice of one year and withdraw mining permission altogether. Like the
Fifth Schedule, MPLR also prohibits sale of tribal land to non-tribals.
BALCO requires about five lakh tonnes of bauxite every year which is supplied
from mines in Mainpat in northern Chhattisgarh and Lohadagga in neighbouring
Jharkhand. New mines have also been leased in Kawardha district which
are yet to be opened up. But even though the dice may seem loaded in Jogi's
favour right now, he also knows he may not be able to use any of these
provisions for fear of driving away private investment from the state
altogether.
Use of the Fifth Schedule and MPLR will immediately
put the cement plants bought by Lafarge in jeopardy. There are several
others, like Jindal and Monet Ispat, which are also located in tribal
areas or are using mines and materials drawn from mines located there.
Lafarge, on the other hand, has bought plants in Mandhar and Gopalnagar
and is using lime quarried under the old lease agreement between the state
Government, Raymonds and Tisco. If Lafarge can be allowed to carry on,
what can stop the agreement between the Union Government and Sterlite?
How the Chhattisgarh Government is continuing
a dialogue with Daewoo, which wants to build a thermal power plant in
Korba itself, is also a mystery. Jogi says that he is not unduly worried
about private investments. "Every day industrialists come and meet
me about investments here. After all, we have surplus power and it is
not as if we don't have non-tribal land." Jogi has been very alert
about tribal rights in the current issue but also faces accusations of
opening up tribal areas to liquor contractors through his excise policy.
The policy prohibits tribals from brewing more than five litres of liquor
at home while allowing contractors to set up shops.
But for the moment Jogi is riding a wave of
popularity in Chhattisgarh and no one, particularly the workers, wants
to seek answers to uncomfortable questions. They are all depending on
Jogi and he will have to either deliver or sink with them.
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