Arunachal: Etalin Hydroelectric Project shift to NHPC sparks demand for local job restoration

Guwahati: The Project Affected Peoples Forum (PAPF) of Arunachal Pradesh has urged NHPC Ltd to reinstate every local skilled and unskilled worker previously engaged in the Etalin Hydroelectric Project (HEP), following the Centre’s decision to transfer the project from SJVN Limited to NHPC.

In a memorandum submitted to the NHPC chairman and managing director on Thursday, the PAPF demanded that all local employees be restored to their positions along with the project’s assets.

The group argued that the recent approval by the Ministry of Power to hand over the 3,097 MW Etalin project to NHPC must also include protecting the jobs of workers who had been serving under SJVN.

The forum recalled that the Etalin HEP initially received strong public support because both the government and the developer had assured residents of socioeconomic upliftment and employment opportunities under the C&D categories, covering skilled and unskilled roles. Trusting these commitments, villagers had backed the project wholeheartedly, enabling the environmental public hearing to pass smoothly on 12 December 2015.

However, the PAPF expressed shock that the Ministry of Power reassigned the project midway—without first completing the pending activities or fulfilling earlier commitments to the affected communities. The forum said it remained unclear why the Centre transferred the project to NHPC at this stage.

The PAPF maintained that local workers played a key role in supporting the hydropower initiative from the beginning and insisted that NHPC must honour the original assurances by reinstating all employees without exception.