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Growing resistance to land acquisition and concerns over environmental risks have forced Coal India Ltd (CIL) to rethink its growth strategy and modify its recruitment plans accordingly.
The state-owned miner does not have a single manager focussing on community development, considered the most effective tool to handle anti-land acquisition campaigns. It also has very few hands with the expertise to manage environmental issues.
CIL is now recruiting nearly 240 young managers to look into green issues and community development. It also plans to recruit experts at the mid-management level.
“We are in the process of recruiting 120 management trainees in the two categories,” R Mohan Das, Director-Personnel, told BusinessLine . “The goal is to have at least one environmental engineer in each project. They will play a pivotal role in mitigating environmental concerns,” he said.
The aim is to improve CIL’s corporate image, especially in project areas, and make the wider community a party to its growth agenda.
Lack of expertiseCIL currently has about 55 executives looking after green issues, in 429 mines.
There are no senior-level specialists to manage community development. While a few executives in this department specialised in issuing land acquisition notices, most were hurriedly drawn from other departments a couple of years ago to look after rehabilitation and resettlement of people affected by various projects.
The company is now inducting social welfare specialists from B-schools to fill up the gap.
They will look after the entire gamut of issues related to land and people.
Over and above rehabilitation and resettlement activity, which is a part of the project expenses, the department will also have a mammoth CSR (corporate social responsibility) budget, pegged at ₹470 crore this fiscal.
Getting youngerCIL is also continuing with its recruitment drive in other managerial disciplines.
A prolonged ban on hiring and high rate of superannuation saw a depletion of the executive pool to 15,400, with an average age of 52, three years ago. That number has now risen to 18,300 with the average age down to 45 years.
The age profile will improve further with 700 young executives to be recruited this year, in areas such as HR, finance and materials management.
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