The Bokaro Steel Plant protest intensified on Thursday as job-seekers from families displaced by land acquisition blocked two plant gates and warned that five more could be closed in phases if their demands are not addressed. The action came as Congress MLA Shwettaa Singh’s indefinite hunger strike near the BSL headquarters entered its sixth day.
The protesters closed Steel Gate No. 9 and Dugal Gate No. 10 and held a dharna. They said Gates 3, 4 and 5, along with CZ Gate and Mansa Singh Gate, could be blocked from Friday. The threatened closures may affect employee movement and access to the plant, according to Singh.
The protesters are seeking the reinstatement of displaced apprentice trainees, restoration of the earlier reservation system for Class IV jobs and a clear employment policy for families who lost land for the steel plant. They alleged that repeated assurances from Bokaro Steel Plant management had not resulted in concrete action.
“We want a fresh rehabilitation and employment policy for displaced families and jobs for displaced youths,” Singh said. The demands centre on how employment commitments to land losers are implemented after industrial land acquisition and whether existing arrangements provide a continuing route into the plant’s workforce.
Bokaro deputy commissioner Ajay Nath Jha directed BSL director in charge Priya Ranjan and executive director of human resources Rajshree Banerjee to hold talks with displaced apprentices and work towards resolving the stalemate. Jha also appealed to the protesters to suspend the agitation during Durga Puja, Diwali and Chhath and maintain peace.
BSL chief of communication Manikant Dhan said 204 of the 950 displaced apprentices had been engaged as skilled contractual workers as of October 3. More than 50 others, he said, were in the process of being engaged. Dhan added that 10% of outsourced manpower positions are reserved for displaced people.
The figures place the current dispute within a wider employment process involving nearly a thousand displaced apprentices. The management’s position is that a portion of the apprentices has already been absorbed through contractual work, while further engagements are under way. The protesters, however, are seeking reinstatement, a revised rehabilitation and employment policy and restoration of the earlier Class IV reservation arrangement.
The dispute also comes as BSL’s proposed Rs 20,000-crore expansion project is expected to create additional employment opportunities, according to the company’s communication chief. The project was cited by management as a future source of jobs, but the current protest is focused on existing commitments to displaced families and apprentices.
With two gates already blocked and five more closures threatened, the immediate issue is whether talks between BSL representatives and the displaced apprentices can prevent the agitation from expanding. The district administration has asked the parties to engage and maintain peace while the employment and rehabilitation demands remain under discussion.
