Bokaro: The main gate of Ispat Bhawan of Bokaro Steel Plant (BSL) has become a popular agitation spot. Again displaced youths under the banner of the ‘Displaced Apprentice Association’ have been holding dharna for ten days demanding jobs.
The Ispat Bhawan, termed the headquarter of BSL, is the office of Amarendu Prakash, director in charge, executive directors, chief general managers, chief of communication and general managers of various departments. Practically, industrial Relations and Personnel department of BSL are unable to resolve the issue.
A major impact of the agitation is the loss of image for BSL, a unit of Maharatna Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL). The top BSL officials are forced to use backdoors to enter and exit the plant. Besides BSL’s main gate being blocked, the entrance of the Human Resource Department is also affected and traffic on the main road leading to the plant is halted.
BSL spokesperson said “a process of negotiation talks with the agitators is underway to calm them so that the dharna will be over”.
A number of agitators spend the entire day and night camping, sleeping, cooking, and eating there. The displaced youths even defecate at the nearby Two Tank Garden. Employees and officials are greatly inconvenienced by this. Home Guard and police personnel have been deployed at the spot to keep vigil.
A member of the outfit Durga Charan said, “All of us pursued apprentice training in BSL. The BSL management had previously said that displaced people could not be directly employed. Apprenticeships are the only way for displaced people to be employed. We completed the apprentice in this sequence. But no job has been provided to us”.
Another member said, “it has been a long time since we have done apprenticeships, BSL is not providing job to us. We are not going to stop our agitation until our demands are fulfilled”. The group had staged similar demonstrations at BSL’s headquarters several times earlier in the past two years.
