55 Years On, Families Evicted for Setting Up ISRO-VSSC Await Jobs

Over 550 families displaced from 1962-75 for setting up Thumba Equatorial Rocket station

- ASWIN ASOK KUMAR @T'Puram

As India gears up to set up a space station much above the Earth, commoners on the land are left jobless. Fifty-five years and three generations have passed since families were evicted from their land in Veli here, for what is now known as the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC).

Considering the issue, the High Court had directed the VSSC in August to look into the issue and solve the job crisis within four months.

Over 550 families were displaced from 1962 to 1975, for setting up the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS, as it was known before renaming as VSSC) here, said local people. In return, the people were told that one person from each family would be given a permanent job here within three generations, as per a meeting held in 1970, which was even attended by Vikram Sarabhai.

Decades down the line, promises remain unfulfilled as 47 eligible candidates are yet to receive any intimation about their jobs.