Tehelka
ANAND ST DAS
Ranchi

The nine-day economic blockade at the Gua mine started on August 1 amid tensions due to a 24-hour, statewide bandh called by Maoists the same day. The blockade, enforced both on road and rail, stopped dispatches of iron ore from the mine to SAIL’s plants at Bokaro, Durgapur and Burnpur. Being the CM’s brother, Koda encountered no opposition either from any other group or from the state government. Production at SAIL’s plants, however, fell sharply. Madhu Koda has his reasons for choosing not to interfere. He has been under sustained pressure from private steel giants to allocate them iron ore reserves, so they can set up steel plants as quickly as possible. His brother’s agitation came at a time when the state government and the SAIL management were locked in legal battles over renewing leases on several mines in the Chiria area, of which the Gua mine is an extension. Madhu Koda has told SAIL that he wants some of the iron ore reserves in its leasehold mines to be allocated to private investors, but the PSU has insisted on retaining them. The state government has been refusing to renew SAIL’s mining leases since 2004, when Arjun Munda’s NDA government cancelled three leases. SAIL won the case against the state government in the Central Mines Tribunal but the government has contested the tribunal order in the Jharkhand High Court.

“The lease renewal issue had nothing to do with the agitation as it was purely between SAIL and the contract workers. I had no role in it. There was no need for intervention,” said Madhu Koda to TEHELKA. But many leaders in Jharkhand’s Opposition NDA and even the ruling UPA see the sudden rise of Rajesh Koda as being the result of well-engineered plans laid by the CM. “Madhu Koda refused to interfere because the agitation led by his brother suit not only his own political agenda, both as CM and as minister for mines, but also his personal ambition of projecting his brother as a powerful politician for the next Assembly polls,” said former CM and Opposition leader Arjun Munda.

Rajesh Koda was till recently an unknown figure both in Jharkhand political circles and in West Singhbhum’s workers’ unions. He became SMS president two months ago, allegedly without an election and at a time when the serving president, Rama Pandey, was not in Gua. Koda had been a contractual supply worker at the mine for about 15 years, but it was only with the July agitation that he burst into the spotlight.

“Misusing his brother’s status as CM, he declared himself president without an election and quickly hijacked the workers’ agitation that I have been spearheading in a constructive manner over the past two-and-a-half years,” said Pandey, who is planning to move court against Koda’s presidency. “Workers at mines other than Gua don’t even know him as he became a member of the SMS only recently.”

The younger Koda looks like he means to follow in his brother’s footsteps. Madhu Koda, who was the minister for mines in the NDA government and retains the portfolio after becoming CM a year ago, worked at the Gua mine between 1988-90 as a welder. Unknown till 1990, his entry into politics was paved by a workers’ agitation he led at this mine in 1989. According to political observers, Rajesh Koda is using the workers’ agitation as a stepping stone to climb political ladders. “Besides making Rajesh Koda’s entry into politics smoother, the so-called success of this agitation also boosts Madhu Koda’s status as a pro-worker leader,” explained an aide of the CM.

As Rajesh Koda’s blockade threatened to cripple production at the three SAIL plants, the company’s chairman SK Roongta, Union steel secretary RS Pandey and Madhu Koda held talks on August 6 and 7. Union Minister for Steel Ram Vilas Paswan stayed away from the discussions. SAIL sources said he did not want to lend credence to Rajesh Koda as he was “merely trying to gain political mileage by holding SAIL plants hostage”. Paswan, a key UPA ally at the Centre, had strongly criticised the Koda government during a visit to the state on August 5, saying: “I don’t know for whose benefit the Jharkhand government is working. They don’t want to give the ore to SAIL but are willing to give it to private companies. The CM and his brother want to shut down the SAIL unit in Jharkhand.” Paswan also threatened to raise the issue with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. A beleaguered Madhu Koda finally “summoned” Rajesh Koda on August 7. The junior Koda, however, said he himself came to see the CM to discuss the contract workers’ problems. The CM reportedly persuaded Rajesh to end the blockade as soon as possible. The blockade was lifted late on the night of August 9 and the dispatch of iron ore from Gua mine was resumed after a meeting in Kolkata between Rajesh Koda and officials of SAIL.

Rajesh denied there was any political motivation behind his agitation and said the chief minister was not even remotely involved in it. “My agitation was purely for the rights of the 688 contractual supply workers at the Gua mine, who have been working for 15 to 20 years without getting their legitimate benefits from the SAIL management. I am glad that my agitation forced SAIL’s Raw Materials Division to promise that the contract workers’ services would be regularised from September,” he told TEHELKA. “I wouldn’t mind seeing SAIL stop its operations in Jharkhand if it is going to continue using contract labour,” he added.

But Rama Pandey rubbished Rajesh’s claims, saying he was misleading the workers. “SAIL’s official position still remains what they had promised during my earlier talks with them — that contract workers would be regularised after considering their skills, qualifications and health. I also have letters from the then CM Arjun Munda and Union Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan stating the same.” Rajesh Koda declined to answer questions about how he became SMS president. RK Singh, an AGM with SAIL’s Raw Materials Division, told TEHELKA over the phone from Kolkata: “We have only promised, as before, that we would give preference to existing contract supply workers in our fresh recruitment drive, which is to start after September. We will regularise the services of contract workers after examining their skills, experience, age and health.” Singh also said contract supply workers were already getting most of the benefits regular workers get, like provident fund, medical facilities, cheap housing and schools for their children. Even though contract supply workers at Gua are a happier lot following SAIL’s promise of regularisation, there could be similar agitation in the coming weeks in Chiria and other mines nearby. Both Rajesh Koda and his rival Rama Pandey are gearing up to spread the agitation to SAIL’s other mines, said sources.


Sep 15 , 2007