Skip to main content

Following gherao, Gujarat chief secretary "assures" protesting tribal farmers: Sugarcane dues would be paid

By A Representative
The Adivasi Kisan Sangharsh Manch's (AKSM's) activists in South Gujarat gheroed Gujarat chief secretary D Jageetha Pandian during his visit to the South Gujarat town of Vyara on April 6 to press for their demand for early payment of sugarcane dues to the tribal farmers, pending for several years now.
AKSM's Romel Sutariya, who led the struggle, which involved large number of women, said, "The chief secretary finally met and assured us that the matter would be discussed at the next Cabinet meeting in Gandhinagar."
Rs 17 crore worth of dues remain to be paid to tribal farmers, which, according to Sutariya, is is not being paid because the cooperative of the 40 sugar mills in the region, Shri Ukai Pradesh Khand Udyog Mandli Ltd, has been closed. The AKSM, an upcoming tribal farmer body of South Gujarat, has been demanding a Rs 200 crore package from the Gujarat government to revive the cooperative by holding fresh elections.
Claimed Sutariya, "The chief secretary met me after I declared my decision of self-immolation in case the dues are not paid. Among those who took part in the gherao before the chief secretary called us to meet were mainly women."
During the meeting with the chief secretary, Sutariya said, the AKSM submitted a memorandum, addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, against the new land acquisition ordinance, 2015, promulgated by the Government of India last week, demanding that it be immediately repealed.
"Thc meeting with the chief secretary lasted for one-and-a-half hours", Sutatiya said, adding, "On our demand, he ordered immediate arrangements to ensure water supply to the tribals or the region, which still has no such facility." 

Comments

Post a Comment

NOTE: While there is no bar on viewpoint, comments containing hateful or abusive language will not be published and will be marked spam. -- Editor

TRENDING

Manufacturing, services: India's low-skill, middle-skill labour remains underemployed

By Francis Kuriakose* The Indian economy was in a state of deceleration well before Covid-19 made its impact in early 2020. This can be inferred from the declining trends of four important macroeconomic variables that indicate the health of the economy in the last quarter of 2019.
Post a Comment
»

Incarceration of Prof Saibaba 'revives' the question: What is crime, who is criminal?

By Kunal Pant* In 2016, a Supreme Court Judge asked the state of Maharashtra, “Do you want to extract a pound of flesh?” The statement was directed against the state for contesting the bail plea of Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba. Saibaba was arrested in 2014, a justification for which was to prevent him from committing what the police called “anti-national activities.”
Post a Comment
»

Food security? Gujarat govt puts more than 5 lakh ration cards in the 'silent' category

By Pankti Jog* A new statistical report uploaded by the Gujarat government on the national food security portal shows that ensuring food security for the marginalized community is still not a priority of the state. The statistical report, uploaded on December 24, highlights many weaknesses in implementing the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in state.
Post a Comment
»