Affected villagers besiege hard rock mine for job
Affected villagers under the banner of Madhyapara Adhikar Rakkha Committee bring out a procession at Madhyapara in Dinajpur yesterday and then besiege the offices of Granite Mining Company Ltd demanding employment at the mine.Photo: STAR
Several hundred people of surrounding villages of Madhyapara Granite Mining Company Ltd (MGMCL) yesterday besieged the company offices for about two hours demanding jobs by introducing two more production shifts. The villagers submitted a memorandum to the MGMCL authorities. In the memo, they also demanded withdrawal of Ansar deployed by the company. Villagers severely affected by water logging launched the agitation programme yesterday under the banner of 'Madhyapara Adhikar Rakkha Committee'. From early morning they started gathering in MGMCL area and besieged the rock mine at around 11:00am. At a rally in front of the mine the speakers urged the mine authorities to start rock production in two more shifts which was scheduled to begin about 4 years ago. Sources said at present the mine produces around 1100 to 1500 tonnes of hard rock a day with the help of 292 miners. “If the mine authorities open two more production shifts, then they will require more manpower. And these workers have to be recruited from the surrounding villages as they are worst affected by the mine” said Md Mujahidul Islam, convener of the committee. The villagers alleged that the mine authorities often recruited outsiders to operate the mine. Md Khairul Islam, general secretary of the committee said while the villagers sacrificed their land for the sake of mine, they remain deprived of jobs at the mine. He said the committee several times iterated the matters to the mine authorities but to no effect. “If our demands are not met this time, we will go for greater movement to realise those”, he added. Abdul Basar, managing director (Admin) said, the mine has a plan to start two more shifts in near future and surrounding villagers will get priority.
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