Provide jobs to land losers, HC directs BHEL -16 Oct 2010

Provide jobs to land losers, HC directs BHEL

T S Sekaran

Express News Service

First Published :

16 Oct 2010 02:53:42 AM IST

Last Updated : 16 Oct 2010 10:44:25 AM IST

CHENNAI: Putting an end to a three-decade-old struggle of the land-losers, the Madras High Court has directed the Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) in Ranipet, Vellore district to provide job opportunities to them.


“The issue regarding employment under the displaced land owners category was pending since 1981. It is in the interest of both the landowners as well as the BHEL to put an end to this issue at the earliest point of time. Somehow or the other the matter has been dragged for years together. Therefore, it is high time that the entire issue be resolved by examining individual cases by the Screening Committee appointed by a single judge earlier,” a division bench comprising justices Elipe Dharma Rao and K K Sasidharan observed recently.

The bench was passing/closing a batch of writ petitions and writ appeals challenging the orders of a single judge appointing the screening committee.

The issue involved in the petitions and appeals pertained to the claim for employment made by those who had been uprooted from their place of residence or lost their lands on account of acquisition of land for BHEL in Ranipet in 1981.

The bench observed that BHEL could not say that it would not even consider the claim of the displaced landowners. The question as to whether the petitioners were the real landowners and as to whether they were qualified for appointment or there were vacancies to accommodate these displaced people, were all matters to be considered by the screening committee.

At any rate, it was not open to the BHEL to say that it would not even participate in the deliberations of the committee so as to consider the claim of eligible landowners for employment, the bench said.

“We are of the view that issues like this cannot be postponed indefinitely. A data list of all the eligible claimants of displaced landowners should be prepared at the earliest point of time. It is true that all the claimants cannot be accommodated at one slot.

In case a list is prepared and maintained by BHEL, incorporating the names of all the eligible candidates for employment under displaced category, they could be accommodated over a period of time depending upon the vacancy. The claimants are not demanding the post of executives or that of technical officers. Their demand is very minimum and it is for BHEL to accommodate them depending upon their qualification and nature of post.

Therefore, we are of the view that the single judge was fully justified in issuing the direction for constitution of the screening committee for considering the claim of the displaced landowners,” the bench said and directed the screening committee to complete the whole exercise in six months.