Dibrugarh: All Tai Ahom Students’ Union (ATASU) took part in a sit-in at Dolmukh Chariali in Sivasagar town on Friday from 11 am to 1 pm, opposing Oil and Natural Gas Corporation’s policies that the organisation described as detrimental to the interests of Assam and its people.The demonstration comes nearly two weeks after ATASU convened a citizens assembly in Sivasagar on June 7, where speakers from various sections of society raised concerns over ONGC’s operations in the region. Friday’s sit-in marked an escalation of that agitation.ONGC’s Assam Asset, one of the corporation’s largest onshore assets, is geographically spread across Sivasagar district, with its operational headquarters located at Nazira, about 16 kilometres from Sivasagar town. The asset manages development and production activities across mature onshore fields, including Geleki, Lakwa, Rudrasagar and several other fields in the region.Protesters raised objections to the alleged halt in local recruitment, the outsourcing of oilfield operations to private entities, citing financial losses, and the alleged shifting of offices from Sivasagar. They said these decisions undermined the economic interests of local communities that have lived alongside ONGC’s operations for decades.“ONGC has been extracting oil from this land for over six decades, but the people of this region have not received their rightful share of employment and benefits. The outsourcing of operations to outside contractors is depriving local youth of opportunities that are rightfully theirs,” ATASU Sivasagar district executive president Madhujya Chetia said.The organisation placed a series of demands before ONGC, including 100% employment for local youths, provision of safe drinking water in affected areas, environmental protection measures, preservation of indigenous art and culture, development of sports infrastructure, retention of contract allocation controls in Nazira, improvement of the ONGC Hospital and an end to alleged irregularities at ONGC’s Multi-Speciality Swargadew-Siu-Ka-Pha Hospital in Sivasagar.“The people of Sivasagar have raised these issues patiently through dialogue. But if ONGC continues to ignore our concerns, we will have no option but to intensify our movement,” said another ATASU functionary.
ATASU members take part in a sit-in at Dolmukh Chariali in Sivasagar town
