Bokaro district administration has imposed prohibitory orders within 200 metres of Bokaro Steel Plant’s main gate after displaced persons seeking jobs blocked the plant’s entry points and disrupted operations. The restrictions came into effect at 5am on Sunday and will remain in force until further orders.
Chas sub-divisional magistrate Pranjal Dhanda issued the order under Section 163(1) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita. The administration said the blockades obstructed the movement of employees, officers, contractual workers and essential services, affecting industrial activity and creating a law-and-order situation.
The order prohibits the assembly of five or more people within the restricted area. It also bars the carrying of firearms, sticks, spears, swords, bows and arrows, digging implements and other weapons. Processions, rallies, meetings, sit-ins and demonstrations involving weapons, as well as activities likely to disrupt industrial operations or public movement, have also been prohibited.
Magistrates and police officers have been directed to enforce the restrictions and take legal action to keep movement through the plant’s main gate orderly. Unauthorised entry into or movement within the restricted zone is prohibited, except for magistrates, police officers and security personnel.
The administration said peaceful and orderly protests could continue at Two Tank Garden, the designated protest site, and urged the organisations involved not to block the plant gates. The restrictions followed blockades by members of the Visthapit Apprentice Sangh and other organisations at the main gate and additional entry points.
The protesters are seeking regular employment for displaced persons, reinstatement of displaced apprentices and a clear employment policy. The agitation coincided with the eighth day of Bokaro MLA Shwettaa Singh’s indefinite hunger strike. Functionaries of the BJP, Congress and JLKM have extended support to the protesters.
According to the report, the blockade on Saturday halted operations at the plant’s blast furnaces, sinter plant and steel melting shops. Bokaro Steel Plant estimated the resulting loss at Rs 30 crore a day. The disruption also placed the employment dispute within the operational security framework of one of the region’s key industrial facilities.
Talks between the plant management and protesters remained inconclusive despite intervention by senior Congress leaders Keshav Mahto Kamlesh and Kumar Gaurav, along with finance minister Radha Krishana Kishore. The district administration’s order is now the immediate measure governing access, assembly and demonstrations around the plant’s main gate.
