Old project, renewed vow

Cracker project will be completed on time: Bordoloi

Dibrugarh, June 2 : One man’s unfinished job is now another man’s top priority. Industries and power minister Pradyut Bordoloi reaffirmed the state’s commitment to complete the ambitious Brahmaputra Crackers and Polymer Limited at Lepetkata in Dibrugarh on time and added that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was personally taking a keen interest in it. Bordoloi’s comments came during a news conference here where he gave a “progress report” of the project, which was earlier being supervised by Bijoy Krishna Handique as the former minister state for chemicals and fertilisers. Handique has now been given charge of the DoNER ministry as well as the ministry of mines. The foundation stone for the Rs 6,000-crore project was laid by Singh on April 9, 2007. Bordoloi said so far work orders and contract worth Rs 1,000 crore have been awa-rded and a comprehensive business plan has been worked out for disbursement of another Rs 1,600 crore within the current fiscal. “The secretary in the ministry of chemical and petrochemicals, Bijay Chatterjee, is scheduled to visit Dibrugarh early this month to review the progress of the construction. The appointment process for a managing director and the director (finance) is also under way and I have come to know that very competent people with a vast experience have applied for the posts. This is quite encouraging for us, as it shows that the project has generated a lot of enthusiasm among the top companies of the country,” the minister said. “Appointment of engineering graduates is also under way and nationwide preliminary examinations have already been held,” he said. On manpower requirement at the project site, the minister said around 2,200 people were currently engaged in various capacities at the work site. The figure, as informed by cracker project authorities, will go up to 7,000 during the peak period of construction, Bordoloi said. Unavailability of skilled workers in the state has become a stumbling block for the contractors engaged in the mega project, a part of the Assam Accord of 1985, the minister said. So far, three batches of unemployed youths, 560 of them, have been sent to the Hyderabad-based National Academy of Construction for training in various fields. Of them, 350 workers have been employed by various contractors at the project site, while around 140 preferred to work outside the state, the minister said. “It has been a matter of concern for us, as contractors said they are unable to find enough skilled manpower in the area. Therefore, we have decided to go all out by providing training to local unemployed youths and we have worked out a detailed plan for that with assistance from Dibrugarh district administration,” he said. According to the plan, 3,000 local youths will be provided training at the Hyderabad academy in various fields like carpentry, painting, fitting, plumbing and masonry within December. “We’ll then send these youth to work after screening and verifying their documents. We have decided to bear the training cost,” Dibrugarh deputy commissioner G.D. Tripathi said.