Bokaro Steel Plant operations were disrupted on Saturday after displaced persons demanding jobs blocked all entry gates, stopping employees from reaching several major production units and creating an estimated daily production loss of around Rs 30 crore, according to officials cited by the Times of India.
A production report prepared at about 2.30 pm stated that the plant’s blast furnaces, sinter plant and two steel melting shops had stopped functioning because employees for incoming shifts could not enter the facility. The blockade was organised by displaced persons under the banner of the Visthapit Apprentice Sangh.
The disruption came as an indefinite hunger strike led by Bokaro MLA Shwettaa Singh near the Bokaro Steel Plant headquarters entered its eighth day. The protest is being held at Two Tank Garden, close to the plant’s administrative offices, with displaced persons seeking employment and action on pending claims linked to apprenticeship and displacement.
Talks between the protesters and senior BSL officials, including director in-charge Priya Ranjan and executive director Rajshree Banerjee, failed at the Circuit House. Bokaro deputy commissioner Ajay Nath Jha and Chas sub-divisional magistrate Pranjal Dhanda also attended the meeting.
Jharkhand State Youth Commission chairperson Kumar Gaurav said BSL officials had proposed forming a committee to examine the issue. The protesters rejected the proposal, arguing that earlier committees had not resolved their demands. They insisted that displaced persons should be provided jobs.
The dispute has drawn support from political leaders across the state. Finance minister Radha Krishana Kishore said BSL management should frame a policy to provide employment to displaced persons. Kishore, Gaurav and Jharkhand Congress president Keshav Mahto Kamlesh joined the dharna for a few hours. Dumri MLA and JLKM chief Jairam Mahto, BJP Dhanbad MP Dulu Mahato and Congress workers also extended support to the agitation.
The protesters said the employment issue had remained unresolved despite repeated assurances. Protester Sunil Kumar said displaced youths had been receiving assurances for nearly one and a half years, while several apprenticeship trainees were still awaiting employment. He said the uncertainty was affecting their families financially.
BSL said employees who had remained inside the plant for more than 18 hours were facing shortages of food and drinking water. The plant management and Steel Authority of India Ltd urged the state administration to restore access through the gates.
Singh said the blockade would continue until the protesters’ demands were met. The immediate dispute now involves both the employment claims of displaced persons and the restoration of access to a plant whose production units have been affected by the continuing blockade.
