A 12-day hunger strike by displaced job seekers demanding employment from Bokaro Steel Plant (BSL) ended on Wednesday after a meeting involving the Bokaro deputy commissioner, senior BSL management and the local MLA. The administration said BSL would examine a proposal to include BSL-trained apprentices in its recruitment policy for Class IV posts and submit its reference within seven days.
The strike was called off after a meeting between deputy commissioner Ajay Nath Jha, BSL executive director (HR) Rajshree Banerjee and Bokaro MLA Shwettaa Singh. The discussion focused on the demands of displaced persons who have been seeking employment linked to the steel plant, according to a report by Times of India – Ranchi.
Singh said the meeting considered a proposal to accommodate apprentices trained by BSL in recruitment for Class IV positions. The proposal is now to be examined by the plant management. The report did not specify the number of apprentices who could be covered, the number of posts available or the eligibility conditions that may apply if the proposal is accepted.
Employment was also discussed for the brother of Prem Prasad, who died during an earlier agitation last year. The matter places an individual employment demand alongside the wider dispute over jobs for displaced persons affected by the industrial project and its recruitment processes.
Jha said the meeting was the fourth attempt to resolve the deadlock. His statement indicates that the administration has already held multiple rounds of engagement with the protesting job seekers before the latest meeting resulted in the hunger strike being withdrawn.
The immediate outcome is therefore a review rather than a confirmed recruitment decision. BSL is expected to examine the proceedings of the meeting and submit its reference within seven days. The report does not state whether the reference will constitute a final approval, a recommendation to another authority or a response setting out the plant’s position.
The dispute highlights the administrative complexity surrounding employment demands from displaced communities in industrial areas. A recruitment policy decision would need to clarify how BSL-trained apprentices are treated for Class IV posts, what selection process would apply and whether the proposal can address the broader demands raised by displaced job seekers. None of those details were announced after Wednesday’s meeting.
For the protesters, the end of the hunger strike marks a temporary settlement of the immediate confrontation while the proposal moves through the plant’s review process. The next formal development is expected within seven days, when BSL submits its reference to the administration following the fourth attempt at resolving the deadlock.
