POSCO project unjustified: Binayak Sen

Human rights activist Binayak Sen today said there was no justification in setting up the POSCO project as it was against the people's interest.

"There is no justification to set up the POSCO project as it is being done by violating several laws and above all not to benefit the people and the state," Sen said, speaking at the 5th annual Loknath Memorial lecture in Bhubaneswar.

He said the Rs52,000 crore steel project was not profitable for the country as the company would make a profit of Rs3 lakh crore from the deal with the state government for using raw materials.

"As the livelihood of many people was affected, the project should not be set up on fertile and multi-crop land near Paradip," he said.

Two central committees headed by NC Saxena and Meena Gupta had observed in their reports that implementation of the Posco project would cause violation of severals laws, Sen said.

Despite observations by two central panels, the government was ready to implement the project, he said, raising question on the lapsed memorandum of understanding between the state government and POSCO-India.

Sen, who returned from South Korea after receiving the Gwangju Award for Human Rights for 2011 a week ago, said he had raised the POSCO issue at the award ceremony where the South Korean prime minister was also present.

"I talked about the breach of human rights for setting up the Posco project in Orissa at the award ceremony. I also asked the gathering whether they endorsed use of force for the South Korean steel project," Sen said.

He said the people of South Korea were unaware of the happenings in Orissa, and the people of India, who knew about the breach of human rights, should make the South Koreans aware of the situation.

"The people of South Korea know little about the situation here. We should educate them," Sen said, adding that it was "surprising" that an elected sarpanch has been suspended for opposing the POSCO project.

"As the livelihood of many people was affected, the project should not be set up on fertile and multi-crop land near Paradip," he said.


(2011-5-28/dnaindia)