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To to sweeten its offer for land acquisition, Coal India Ltd has decided to enhance the scope of offering jobs to land losers and increased the salaries and wages to be offered to such employees.
According to the CIL Chairman, Mr N.C. Jha, the company employs 3,000-4,000 people through this route annually.
CIL was required to acquire as much as 60,000 hectares during the current Plan period to step up production by approximately 160 million tonnes (to 520 mt). Company sources suggest that in addition to the environmental restrictions, the increasing resistance to land acquisition proved to be a major stumbling block to increase production.
In a meeting on March 12, the board of directors allowed the company to offer employment at the ratio of one job for every two acres purchased directly by the company. CIL was so far offering jobs (at the same ratio) for acquisitions through notification under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, or the Coal Bearing Areas (Acquisition and Development) Act, 1957.
To ensure that the landowner does not enjoy the best of both worlds in the case of direct purchases, the job offer will be valid provided land is sold to CIL at a price not exceeding the notional value of the land to be offered for acquisition through the Land Acquisition Act.
Commenting on the development, Mr Jha said that the modifications in the Rehabilitation and Resettlement policy should primarily help the company in acquiring land in non-coal bearing areas. “While our mining requirements are generally met through enforcement of the Land Acquisition Act and Coal Bearing Areas Act, CIL acquires land in relatively smaller quantities in the non-coal bearing areas for building infrastructure.”
In addition to extending the job offer, the company has decided to reduce the probationary period for such employees from two years to six months. They will also get a higher pay during the probationary period.
Earlier, those offered jobs against land acquisition were serving the company for two years at a gross stipend of Rs 7,000 a month before they were inducted as a regular employee. In the new scheme of things such candidates will be offered basic pay and dearness allowance from day one. All facilities offered to a regular employee will follow in six months. “The initial pay to any such a candidate will now be approximately 20 per cent higher,” Mr Jha said.
Long-term import
CIL is expecting to finalise the tender document for long-term off-take (import) contracts this month. The Board during the March 12 meeting entrusted a special board-level committee to give specific recommendations on the issue. “We are expecting the recommendations to be considered and formalised later this month,” Mr Jha said.
CIL is expecting to import 10-15 million tonnes of coal annually through this route.
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