Having formed the government for the first time in West Bengal, the BJP has turned its attention toward alleged irregularities in Deocha Pachami, the country’s largest coal block.
A delegation of BJP MLAs held a meeting with the District Magistrate (DM) of Birbhum Saturday, during which they formally raised concerns regarding the allocation of compensation and employment for the Deocha Pachami coal block project.
The delegation has sought a segregated list of tribal and non-tribal individuals who have received government jobs in exchange for their land.
“It was an informal meeting. Regarding the scams in Deocha Pachami, we have raised three issues and sought specific information,” said Jagannath Chattopadhyay, the BJP MLA from Suri, who was part of the delegation.
“First, we requested a segregated list of tribal and non-tribal land losers. Some of them have been given government jobs as compensation. While there are about 5,000 people registered as land losers, we have information indicating that non-tribal individuals wrongfully received benefits meant for a project situated on tribal land,” Chattopadhyay alleged.
“Secondly, we have sought a list of absentee landlords, along with details of recent land registrations and mutations in the area. Thirdly, we requested a list from the district magistrate of those who were given jobs against land deeds. We will decide on our future course of action regarding these jobholders later,” Chattopadhyay added, hinting at major anomalies in the compensation distribution.
The Deocha Pachami coal block (officially the Deucha-Pachami-Dewanganj-Harisingha coal project) is located under the Mohammad Bazar Block of Birbhum district. Spanning over 12.3 square kilometres, the area is estimated to hold 1,240 million tonnes of coal reserves and 260 million tonnes of basalt.
Work on the first phase of the initiative commenced on February 6, 2025, a day after the West Bengal government announced the project’s launch during the 8th Bengal Global Business Summit in Kolkata.
The mega-infrastructure project has faced local resistance. On March 5, local villagers staged protests demanding the closure of the site, forcing operations to halt for three days. Protesters alleged that many genuine land losers had been denied employment and expressed strong opposition to open-cast mining in the region.
According to a March 2025 statement by the West Bengal Power Development Corporation Limited (WBPDCL), only 12 acres of the 326 acres allocated for the first phase are currently being utilised for experimental open-cast mining to extract basalt.
Government sources indicated that by March 2025, roughly 1,600 out of 7,000 applicants from the project area had received jobs and compensation packages. Of these, unique employment provisions saw 1,100 individuals inducted into the local police force, while 500 were placed in Group D government service roles.
The project encompasses several areas under the Mohammad Bazar administrative block, including Chanda, Dewanganj, Hatgacha, Harisingha, and Nischintopur.