Rejecting Orissa government's assurance that there are no tribals in Posco project area, environment minister Jairam Ramesh on Thursday put on hold forest clearance to the Rs 52,000 crore steel-cum-captive power plant.

Ramesh cited the letter from members of Posco Pratirodh Sangharsh Committee (PPSC) who claim to be other traditional forest dwellers in the area allocated for the project.

The letter talks about village council resolutions of Dhinkia and Gobindapur that have not been considered by the concerned state government authority.

Ramesh noted that the Orissa government had categorically denied the authenticity of the documentation submitted by the PPSC.

"I do believe that these two resolutions have to be disposed of by the appropriate authority in accordance with the Forest Rights Act, 2006...," he said, adding that he had already forwarded the PPSC representation to the Orissa chief minister and the chief secretary.

"After receiving information from the state government that the appropriate authority has completed the process of recognition and verification procedure for all the villages from where the forest land is to be transferred for non-forestry purposes, a final decision regarding forest clearance will be taken," Ramesh said.

"Ignoring these two Palli Sabha (village council) resolutions and not allowing them to be subjected to a due process of law as enshrined in the Forest Rights Act, 2006 would be tantamount, in my considered opinion, to violating the very essence of this legislation passed unanimously and with acclaim by Parliament," the minister said.

Orissa to renew MoU with Posco

Orissa government on Thursday said it would soon renew the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with South Korean steel major Posco for its proposed steel plant near Paradip.

"The steel and mines department has already received the recommendation of the law department in this regard. The nodal department will soon invite Posco for renewal of the MoU," Orissa's steel and mines minister Raghunath Mohanty told reporters here.

The MoU signed between the state government and Posco-India on June 22, 2005 had expired after completion of the fixed five years tenure on June 21, 2010.

Though nine months had since passed, the state government had not been able to renew MoU with Posco-India mostly due to addition of some new clauses, sources said.

This apart, the minister said that the department was also considering whether to fix the tenure of MoU for five years or extend it.

The state government has proposed to reserve certain percentage of work force in Posco's proposed project.

In January, Ramesh had issued an order clearing the South Koream steel maker's Rs 52,000 crore project in the state, on the condition that state government submits an assurance report that there were no other forest dwellers in the project area.

The state government has maintained that people living in the project area are not tribals, neither do not qualify as "other traditional forest dwellers", hence cannot claim rights guaranteed under Forest Rights Act.

While according conditional environment clearance to the project on January 31, Ramesh had sought a pointed assurance report from the Orissa government on proper implementation of the Forest Rights Act at the company's proposed plant site villages.

In today's letter, Ramesh emphasised provisions of the Forest Rights Act, 2006 that explicitly state that no member of a forest dwelling scheduled tribe or other traditional forest dweller shall be evicted or removed from forest land under his occupation till the recognition and verification procedure is completed.