Committee demands fresh MoU on Rangadi project

FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT
Itagar, March 18: The Rangadi Hydro Electric Project (RHEP) MoU Demand Committee has demanded the state government and North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) officials to sign a fresh Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) against the 405 MW Rangadi Hydro Electrical Project (RHEP).
Stating that due to lack of MoU, the land donors and land affected families have been deprived of its rightful benefits, Committee’s Chairman Taba Techi said that as per the RTI documents the hydro project was commissioned in the year 2000 without signing any MoU.
Highlighting several discrepancies in awarding benefits to the affected people, Techi informed that the compensation paid to the land affected people against the 405 MW project was Rs 1.28 crore whereas the paid compensation amount against the 75 MW Doyang HEP in galand was Rs 25.93 crore.
He added that the project was commissioned on the basis of the meeting held on August 28, 1990 between the NEEPCO and the then chief minister. Pointing out that both the projects were undertaken in the same year, the chairman questioned whether there was two different hydro power policy drafted for galand and Aruchal Pradesh?
Expressing resentment against the NEEPCO of curtailing the job opportunity of the project affected people, Techi informed that against the 75 MW Doyang HEP 167 local people were recruited whereas only 36 local people got recruited against 405 MW RHEP. Informing that there were actually 707 job vacancies against the RHEP, Techi demanded for direct and immediate recruitment of existing 671 vacancies in RHEP from the qualified and eligible candidates from the project affect people, land donor, and APST in all Group A, B, C, D as per the existing manpower to megawatt ratio norms as provisioned under tiol Electric, Central Electricity Authority of union power ministry.