SJVNL under fire from farmers

Kuldeep Chauhan

TribuneNewsService

Shimla, September 22

Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd (SJVNL) has come under fire from farmers for “not spending enough funds on them in the project-affected areas under its corporate social responsibility (CSR).” The company claims that it is spending about Rs 26 crore under CSR every year.

Airing their grievances at SJVNL’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) attended by its board of directors, headed by CMD RN Mishra here today, the farmers from Rampur demanded that the SJVNL should spend enough funds on the promotion of the crops and orchards.

The SJVNL bears social responsibility for setting up soil-testing facilities in the Satluj valley, which is the prime fruit-producing belt in Shimla district.

Their orchards and farms have been hit by the 1500 mw Nathpa Jhakhri and Rampur power projects in the valley that meanders from Nathpa in Kinnaur to Duttnagar and Luhri in Shimla district, they said.

Though the SJVNL board of directors assured the farmers that they would redress their grievances, some farmers told The Tribune after the meeting that the SJVNL was spending about Rs 26 crore CSR funds on “useless things”, while the farmers who had given land to the project got nothing in the name of promotion of horticultural crops.

According to SJVNL sources, the corporation spends 2 per cent of its annual profit on CSR in the project-affected areas. This comes to roughly Rs 26 crore.

Though director, administration, NL Sharma could not be contacted on his phone, SJVNL spokesperson Vijay Prasad said the corporation funded the sewage treatment plant at Jhakhari, gave scholarships, held health camps. “We take farmers to various institutes for training and exposure visits and funds are spent. The corporation has agreed to set up the soil-testing facility for farmers,” he added.