Working in Naxal belt: Not easy, but not hopeless

Only private firms have been at the receiving end of naxal extremism, not us. That’s typically been the official line of PSUs when asked about the problems of working in naxal-affected areas.

Essar Steel’s iron ore pipeline from NMDC’s Bailadila mines, now down for a year, has often been cited as an example. And NMDC’s decades of welfare activities in the backward regions, long before the term CSR came into vogue was also recommended as remedy.

The reality of course, is different -PSUs have also been the target, as much as the private sector. Costs in terms of payouts to Naxal groups are incurred by the contractors.

“Costs no doubt are built into the tender rates, ultimately billed to the company, and mostly passed onto the consumer,” admits a former chairman of Coal India. What’s making matters worse is the fragmentation of original Naxal or Maoist groups. “You now have to deal with many more subgroups. That, while painful today, may also be reflective of a weakening naxal network,” said a ministry official.

The former CMD says he has always found his officers ready for the challenge which comes with the job. There’s no particular naxal area allowance. He recounts how , when a PSU official was abducted, his colleagues went in to try and get him released. “It is for emergencies like these that you need to keep ‘informal’ channels of communication open (with Naxals),” he says.

Random attacks like the one at a Central Coalfields site in Jharkhand or the May attack at NMDC’s mine in Kirandul are only Maoist attempts to steal CISF arms, say officials. And officials says things arent hopeless.

“We have great equity with the villagers for the work we have done in the region beyond our commercial interest, which provide for a fair deal of income. And Maoists know they need villagers’ support. Otherwise we would never have been in a position to acquire land for our new plant at Nagarnar in the Bastar region,” said an official.

A company like Steel Authority of India, which is seeking home ministry support to develop a critical mine in Chhatisgarh, is attempting to developing new models of engagement under its CSR activities.

As the country’s largest steelmaker expands capacity, SAIL’s most urgent concern is getting new mines like Rowghat developed, which will feed it s Bhilai steel plant. SAIL is volunteering to pay for five battalions of additional security to protect mine development efforts. Officials acknowledge that PSUs need to do more than token CSR, and seriously improve employability of tribal youth in the area, in return for precious resources.

Over the last few months SAIL has distributed thousands of transistors, cycles and solar lanterns around mining areas ,though this initiative is for all tribal areas. It is also thinking out of the box, on the lines of tribal boarding schools, adult education, or arranging alternative job recruitments at the villages.

“We plan to set up an integrated development office in an area where the agency we wanted to appoint refused to work,” says an official on condition of anonymity.

“We operate medical ambulances that even gives rides to people along the way,” he says. As he puts it, “If you have to work in these areas for the next 20- 30 -40 years you have to engage and win over the local population. And that a PSU which doesn’t have to chase profits can do.”