MARCH OF THE LANDLESS

We walk. For the good earth that is ours ( Tehelka )

 

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iconimgSunday, October 14, 2012

Umesh Singh, Hindustan Times
Gwalior, October 04, 2012

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First Published: 15:22 IST(4/10/2012)
Last Updated: 15:23 IST(4/10/2012)

March to Delhi for land rights begins

Ekta Parishad activists began a month-long foot march (pad yatra) from Gwalior to Delhi on Wednesday here to press for extensive land reforms in the country.  The pad yatra termed as Jansatyagrah will culminate in Delhi on October 29. On Tuesday, two union ministers Jairam Ramesh and Jyotiraditya Scindia shared dais with Ekta Parishad leaders in Gwalior before the pad yatra took off . Minister Jairam Ramesh underlined that land was a state subject and therefore any initiative on behalf of the Union government to meet the Ekta Parishad's demand would amount to infringing the federal structure. However, sincere attempts will be made after taking everyone on board to uphold and protect the dignity, identity and security of poor and the landless. Scindia also pitched in for uplift of the poor and weaker sections of society by initiating growth-centric measures.  

However, Ekta Parishad activists stuck to their padyatra and Satyagrah Aandolan programme and a large number of people estimated over 45,000 people began their 27-day foot march from Gwalior Mela ground at 7.30 am here.

All participants have been provided with a water bottle, a carry bag, mat and cover as basic and minimum support kit. Quite keeping with the slogan 'adhi roti khayege, pedal Dilli jayege' (we will eat half loaf of bread but walk on foot up to Delhi), participants will be offered one time meal during the pad yarta, organisers said.

The first leg of pad yatra, which started from Kanyakumari on October 2, 2011, ended in Gwalior on Tuesday.

The second leg of journey from Gwalior finds connect with the founding father of Sarvodaya movement- Vinoba Bhawe. He had not only carried out  bhudan andolan theroughout the country but was also instrumental in mass surrender of dacoits like Maan Singh and others who had unleashed rein of terror in the 70s. Later his (Vinoba Bhawe) associate SN Subbarao in continuation of work on dacoits, set up a rehabilitation centre (Ashram) at Jaura in Morena district.

The pad yatra will cover 340 km distance (Gwalior-Delhi) in 27 days with 12 km walk everyday. Journey has been planned in batches of approximately 10,000 people each for the sake of convenience. At the start of procession, the police and traffic arrangements were in place and vehicle movement on Gwalior-Morena track was diverted.

Prominent among those who led the march include national president of Ekta Parishad Rajagopal PV, his wife Jill Carr, Swami Agnivesh, Hem Bhai (Assam), Dr Ransingh Parmar, Jayant Tomar and others.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/939734.aspx

© Copyright © 2012 HT Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.

 

 

 

'Jan satyagraha': 50,000 landless people march from Gwalior to Delhi for rights

Reported by Siddharth Ranjan Das, Written by Amit Chaturvedi | Updated: October 03, 2012 08:15 IST

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GwaliorIn a unique protest of its kind, 50,000 landless people from 26 states under the banner of an NGO Ekta Parishad, have started a jan satyagraha (people's movement) today and are walking from Gwalior to Delhi. They say the distance, about 320 km, will be covered by October 29.

The satyagrahis (protesters) are demanding a national land reform policy and plan to hand over a memorandum to the Centre to highlight the problems of landless poor.

The Centre had appointed Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh and junior minister in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Jyotiraditya Scindia, to hold talks with activists led by Ekta Parishad chairman PV Rajagopal on the issue.

2:35

 

 

 

'Jan satyagraha': Silent march by 50,000 landless people enters third day

  • Video: 'Jan satyagraha': 50,000 landless people march from Gwalior to Delhi for rights

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On Tuesday, Mr Ramesh met the protesters and gave them a written assurance that he will look into their demands and also invited them for a meeting on October 11 in Delhi.

"We have assured the protesters that the government will consider all their demands sympathetically and try to fulfil them in totality," the minister said. He also said that the demands made by these protesters are reasonable but the government would need at least six months to try and materialise it.

The protesters have agreed to attend the meeting but are also determined to walk to the national capital.

Mr Rajagopal, however, alleged that an attempt was made by the government to weaken their agitation by offering small concessions. He added that even though he would not be able to attend the meeting on October 11, other representatives of the organisation would do so.



"Nearly 50,000 people will take part in the march and the number will cross one lakh by the time the protesters reach the national capital," Mr Rajagopal claimed.

(With PTI inputs)

 

 

http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/05/a-massive-march-for-land-years-in-the-planning/

New York Times

Monday, October 8, 2012

Global Edition

 

October 5, 2012, 2:02 am

A Massive March for Land, Years in the Planning

By NIHARIKA MANDHANA

Poor and landless people from rural communities taking part in "Jan Satyagraha" a monthlong march from Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh to Delhi, organized to demand land rights for the poor.

Altaf Qadri/Associated PressPoor and landless people from rural communities taking part in “Jan Satyagraha” a monthlong march from Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh to Delhi, organized to demand land rights for the poor.

Tens of thousands of India’s poorest people are on a nearly monthlong march through the country’s north, waving green and white flags and chanting slogans to demand that the government provide land to India’s homeless and landless.

“I think enough land can be found for those who don’t have a house to live in or any shelter,” said P.V. Rajagopal, who heads Ekta Parishad, the nonprofit behind this month’s mass protest, which is now making its way through Madhya Pradesh. “It is a question of political will.”

Millions of Indians live on sidewalks and railway platforms, and in illegal slums and shanties. According to the United Nations, 17 percent of the world’s slum dwellers, or 170 million Indians, live in slums. This section of India’s poor, activists say, lives in inhumane conditions, and is often under the threat of displacement, harassment and arrest.

The protest entourage, which includes some 40,000 tribals, dalits, nomads and other landless people, began the padyatra, or march, on foot in Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday, and will pass through Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, covering 350 kilometers (220 miles), before reaching Delhi on Oct. 28. The numbers are expected to swell to 100,000.

Over the last decade, India has substantially expanded its net of welfare policies, aimed at lifting its millions from poverty. A right-to-food bill, which guarantees subsidized food grains to the country’s poor, is in the works, and a right-to-work program, called the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, ensures 100 days of employment to the rural poor.

“It is time for the right to shelter,” Mr. Rajagopal said in a phone interview after the first day of the march, during which the group covered 22 kilometers.

India already has a rural housing program, called the Indira Awaas Yojana, which gives cash to those below the poverty line to build a house. But, activists say, the program is too narrow to help a large number of people and doesn’t solve the fundamental problem of landlessness.

For several years, Ekta Parishad has asked the government to give land to the poor to build a hut or house, “or at least pitch a tent,” said Mr. Rajagopal. Another solution Ekta Parishad advocates is giving slums and other spaces already occupied by the poor to the residents, so that the fear of demolition is removed.

In 2007, a similar protest march led to the formation of the National Council on Land Reforms, under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, which was supposed to draw a roadmap for policy reform. The body’s recommendations, which were released in 2010, have largely been ignored, activists say.

The issue has again gained momentum in the last few months, and Mr. Rajagopal said talks with India’s rural development minister, Jairam Ramesh, seemed close to a breakthrough. But they fell apart at the last minute, Mr. Rajagopal said, accusing the government of succumbing to pressure from the corporate sector and dragging its feet on land reforms.

Minister Ramesh, who has said that the issue of land falls within the purview of state governments, has called for another round of talks on Oct. 11. In a letter to Mr. Rajagopal, Mr. Ramesh said “There is a very substantial degree of consensus on what must get done.”

Mr. Rajagopal, however, said it was time to take the battle to the streets. “The state will never act unless people come out openly and do something,” he added.

When the talks collapsed, Ekta Parishad began its march, which is designed to allow everyone to participate, Mr. Rajagopal said, including the young, old, rural, urban, educated and uneducated. The group plans to walk some 15 kilometers each day, singing songs and chanting. They sleep on the streets and eat only one meal a day. “It uses the strengths of the poor,” Mr. Rajagopal said.

The process of drumming up support for these protests began several years ago. Mr. Rajagopal said he and his team traveled widely throughout the country, organizing workshops to “give people faith that change can happen” and building a base of volunteers and workers.

Indeed, this caravan protest has been a large logistical endeavor. In the last four years, Ekta Parishad’s 350 workers have trained some 12,500 people to organize and lead groups of marchers that make up the campaign. The protesters are divided into camps of 500, each headed by a trained volunteer, who is responsible for the group’s discipline, cooking and feeding, and cultural activities.

The padyatra form of protest can be traced to India’s freedom struggle, when Mohandas K. Gandhi led a march to coastal Gujarat, popularly known as the Dandi march, to protest the British government’s monopoly on the salt trade.

In recent years, mass antigovernment protests have erupted across the country. Anna Hazare mobilized thousands of Indians last year to join his crusade against corruption. In Karnataka, a group of farmers is protesting against the sharing of water with a neighboring state, and agitation over the building of a nuclear plant in Kundankulam in Tamil Nadu continues.

Ekta Parishad is hoping its protest will result in some concrete measures. When the marchers reach Delhi, Mr. Rajagopal said, the government “can put us in jail or come out with a policy.”

 

 

 

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News » National

Published: October 3, 2012 01:06 IST | Updated: October 3, 2012 03:37 IST

Landless poor on long march to Delhi

Priscilla Jebaraj

Thousands of landless poor, Dalits and Adivasis gather at Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, on Tuesday before the long march to New Delhi.

AP Thousands of landless poor, Dalits and Adivasis gather at Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, on Tuesday before the long march to New Delhi.

Efforts of Jairam and Jyotiraditya to talk them out of it fail

Dhanalakshmi, a 22-year-old from the Paliyar hill tribe of Tamil Nadu, is a long way from home. At 7 a.m. on Wednesday, she will join about 60,000 other landless poor, Adivasis and Dalits who have streamed into Gwalior from all parts of the country for a padayatra to the national capital, to present the demand that each of them deserves his/her own piece of land to call home.

On Tuesday, Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh and Minister of State for Commerce Jyotiraditya Scindia flew to Gwalior in a last-ditch effort to convince the organisers — a land reform people’s movement called Ekta Parishad — to call off the march and accept the government’s promises that a draft National Land Reform Policy would be prepared within six months.

“Discussion is always a better option than agitation,” Mr. Ramesh tells the endless rows of squatting people. The multitude, which the organisers claim will swell to one lakh by the time the people reach Delhi on October 28, has the potential to dwarf last summer’s anti-corruption protests led by Anna Hazare.

“Go home … We will find the middle path,” says the Minister, enumerating the government’s existing measures to secure land and housing rights for the poor.

He had originally agreed to sign an agreement here, with time frames for initiatives such as a clear-cut policy, a land pool for the poor and fast-track land tribunals. However, two days ago, the Centre did a U-turn, refusing to sign. Since land is a state subject, Mr. Ramesh says, the Centre cannot impinge on the States’ domain and make promises that it cannot fulfil.

Dhanalakshmi won’t buy his argument. “We have already tried to fight for our rights in Tamil Nadu. But if we tell the Collector that we want our rights, he claims that there is no land, even though there is plenty of land for SEZs and industries. He says, you get an order from above. So we are going to Delhi to get an order from above,” she insists.

“Finding land may be the States’ job. But it is the Centre that sets policy for the States,” says Senthamizhselvi, an activist and organic farmer from Madurai. “If the Central government can set a policy to promote industry, and find 100 acres each for SEZs, they can set a policy to distribute land to the landless.”

Dhanalakshmi had never even been on a train until she squeezed into an unreserved compartment with 200 others from Tamil Nadu to make the long trip to Gwalior last weekend. But she is no stranger to the land rights struggle. Sitting amid a sea of green and white flags, with Hindi slogans rending the air and a posse of foreign documentary filmmakers roaming the vast pandal, she tells her story.

Driven into bonded labour on mango plantations after having been evicted from their forested mountain homes as a consequence of the Forest Conservation Act, a group of Paliyar tribals decided to take matters into their own hands in 2010. After two years of fruitless struggle to get title deeds as per their due under the Forest Rights Act of 2006, twenty-eight families went ahead and occupied a plot of land at Serakkadu at the foothills of the Bodi Agamalai, erecting small hutments. Despite threats by the Forest department to demolish their homes, Dhanalakshmi and her neighbours stood firm. A news report in The Hindu caught the attention of the Chief Minister who promised land and houses. Dhanalakshmi is now fighting for the rights of hundreds of other tribals to have the same.

“Before the forest rangers came, my people have protected the forests for generations. How can they push us out now,” asks Manjanan, a 55-year-old from the Muduvar tribe who hails from a village near Valparai.

He says the benefits of Central schemes such as the FRA and the MGNREGA are denied to tribals who have been forced out of their mountain homes, on the grounds that they no longer qualify as forest dwellers and still cannot prove their identity on the plains. Without land to back him up, even banks deny him a loan to educate his son.

Ekta Parishad founder P.V. Rajagopal and his team have spent the last four years preparing for this Jan Satyagraha. In October 2011, a yatra started in Kanyakumari covering 80,000 km and 352 districts, to spark local awareness and mobilise protesters, culminating in this 350-km padayatra to the capital. A similar march of 25,000 protesters in 2007 resulted in the setting up of the National Land Reforms Council, chaired by the Prime Minister.

“In almost five years, the Council has not even met once,” said Mr. Rajagopal. “The government needs to take this seriously and give legal backing to every citizen’s ‘right to shelter’.”

For the small group from Tamil Nadu seated far at the back of the pandal, Mr. Rajagopal and the Union Ministers on the dais are mere specks, making speeches in a language that is gibberish to their ears. They are surrounded by thousands of people chattering away in a babel of other tongues.

“I may not have very much in common with people from Madhya Pradesh or the Northeast or Orissa, but I know that if one hand claps, it cannot be heard,” says Malliga, a 35-year-old Paliyar woman from Kodaikanal taluk, quoting a Tamil proverb. “But if many hands clap, if we all join together, they will have to hear us.”

In an agreement with Jan Satyagraha, Centre promises to initiate land reforms

Thousands of landless poor aborted their march to Delhi on Thursday, accepting the government's promises to initiate land reform and the possibility of statutory backing for the right to shelter, homestead and agricultural land.

Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh signed a 10-point agreement in Agra — barely 10 days after refusing to sign a similar deal at the march’s starting point in Gwalior — which promises a draft National Land Reform Policy in the next four to six months.

P.V. Rajagopal, founder of the march organisers Ekta Parishad, signed on behalf of the Jan Satyagrahis.

As reported by The Hindu on Tuesday, the agreement also envisions homestead land of 10 cents for all landless rural poor households by doubling funding under the Indira Awaas Yojana, fast-track settlement of land cases through dedicated tribunals and legal aid and enhanced land access for adivasis, Dalits and other vulnerable groups through better implementation of the existing laws. A task force headed by Mr. Ramesh to put the agreement into action will hold its first meeting on October 17.

Since land is constitutionally an issue for the States and not the Central government to tackle, the agreement emphasises a “dialogue process,” “proposals” and “detailed advisories” to the States, rather than making promises the Centre does not have the power to enforce.

Pressure States too

Ekta Parishad should continue putting pressure not only on the Centre, but also on the State governments,” Mr. Ramesh told the green flag waving crowds.

The Centre has felt the pressure over the last 10 days as about 60,000 people set out from Gwalior on a 350-km padayatra, threatening that their numbers would swell to one lakh by the time they reached the capital later this month. However, in actual fact, numbers have dwindled, and only about 20,000 people were present in Agra to watch the signing of the agreement.

Not all those people are happy about the end of the march. “Did we come all this way just to get a signature on a piece of paper?” asked Ram Narayan, a satyagrahi from Madhya Pradesh. “The government has made false promises over and over again. Until we actually see something trickling down to us, we cannot believe it.”

Déjà vu for some

For some activists, the agreement is a case of déjà vu, recalling Ekta Parishad's 2007 padayatra, which resulted in the setting up of the National Land Reforms Council, chaired by the Prime Minister. In the last five years, the Council has not even met once.

Malliga, a Paliyar tribal woman from Tamil Nadu who had spoken to The Hindu at the start of the march in Gwalior about her determination to go to Delhi, was not impressed by the promise of 10 cents of land. “What will I do with one-tenth of an acre? What can I grow on it? If I throw my seeds on that land, can my children eat from it?”

But Mr. Rajagopal says that the movement for land reform is a long and gradual process, in which each small victory is cause for celebration. “This is the first step, to get 10 cents of land for shelter. A homestead is a huge thing for poor people. It means that you can put up your own hut or even a plastic tent and feel safe, knowing that you cannot be evicted or thrown out of your home,” he pointed out. “The next step is the fight for agricultural land. We want a guarantee of one hectare of farmland for every rural household.”

It takes time: Ramesh

Mr. Ramesh also pointed out that every key social legislation had taken time. “It took three-and-half years from the time we promised a job guarantee for all rural poor to the time [MG]NREGA [Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act] was enacted. Right to Information, Right to Education, Forest Rights Act — they all took time,” he said. “Today, I am saying we will start the process for a similar statutory backing for the provision of land. Today, we are starting the process.”

While Mr. Rajagopal originally issued a six-month deadline before he would gather protesters for another march to Delhi unless action was taken, Mr. Ramesh urged him to take back his threat. But as the huge pandal empties out, many satyagrahis themselves are prepared for another rally.

“Today, I'm going to go see the Taj Mahal before I go home,” says Dhanalakshmi, a tribal woman who spoke to The Hindu earlier about her struggles for land rights in Tamil Nadu. “But if the government does not keep its promises, we will bring more people from our villages and we will come back.”

 

 

 

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iconimgSunday, October 14, 2012

HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times
Agra/Bhopal, October 11, 2012

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First Published: 14:33 IST(11/10/2012)
Last Updated: 14:34 IST(11/10/2012)

Chouhan joins satyagrahis at Agra, makes right noises

Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan joined the crowd of over 45,000 foot marchers along with his wife in Agra on Wednesday to express his solidarity with their demand for land to landless and shelter for homeless. According to an official spokesperson in Bhopal, Chouhan announced in Agra that patta (ownership right) of land on which a poor person is residing will be given to him in Madhya Pradesh. He urged the central government to enact a land reforms act soon.

Over 45,000 landless and homeless people from across 26 states have undertaken a silent foot march (Jan Satyagrh) from Gwalior under the banner of Ekta Parishad. They would cover a distance of about 340 kilometers during 27-day march to Delhi.

On reaching Agra today, MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan joined the march and promised to withdraw cases against tribals and assured them to provide land of their habitat on lease. Besides, he also declared to order probe against forest officials who damaged the belongings of tribals, who moved for march from MP.

On delay in joining the Jan Satyagrah, he said that he was out of country and after his return, he joined the march as soon as possible.

He further said the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh should think on some important issues including a national land reform policy, ensuring cultivable land for landless people and right to shelter for the homeless.

Besides, he urged the PM to do something in the interest of the poor and needy by directing the ministry to look into their issues and play a constructive role in resolving them. He also hoped that there would be a positive declaration at Agra on Thursday.

Chouhan further said that there was a lot of stress on saving tigers but nobody seems to be thinking about those living in forests, if all would save only tiger, who would fight for tribals.

Chouhan said that the issues relating to poor should be at the core of politics. A special debate was required on the issues concerning the common man.

CM informed the gathering that pattas of land had been given to 100076 tribals in Madhya Pradesh. The process of giving pattas would continue in future also until every eligivle tribal got the same, he added.

Swami Agnivesh also joined the march and said that Central government was reducing the status of tribals into 'bandhua mazdoor' (bonded labour) by not providing them land.

Students of Birla Institute of Management Technology (BIMTECH) also joined the march.
Agra Mayor Indrajeet Balmiki and MP Ramashankar Katheria welcomed the marchers on their arrival in the city of Taj.

Sources claimed that the Union Minister for rural development Jairam Ramesh indicated at a possible breakthrough at the meeting with Jan Satyagraha delegation and the march might be called off as early as Thursday if a formula was woked out to the satisfaction of foot marchers.
 

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/943033.aspx

© Copyright © 2012 HT Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.

Land reforms march ends in Agra

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Thursday, October, 11 2012 - 17:01

AGRA: Farmers and tribals marching towards New Delhi to press their demand for land reforms Thursday ended their agitation here on the central government's assurance to prepare a policy-frame on land rights within six months.



Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh held talks with the protestors' representatives and announced that the reforms agenda would be ready for implementation in six months.


Over 30,000 marchers, including tribals, landless labourers, marginal farmers and activists belonging to NGOs, had left Gwalior Oct 2 for New Delhi as part of the 'Jan Satyagraha Yatra' (people's agitation for truth), demanding rights over 'jal, zameen, jungle' (water, land and forest).

After the central government's assurance, the protestors, who were led by Gandhian B.P. Rajgopalan of the Ekta Parishad, started returning home. 

Extra bogies were provided in trains to facilitate their return, according to railway officials at the Agra Cantonment railway station.

Ramesh addressed a press conference later and clarified that it was the state governments which were supposed to implement the reforms.

In the morning, the protestors expressed their resolve that they would not return till their demands were met. 

Talking to media persons, their leaders said they would proceed to Delhi if the assurances given in the past were not met.

Ramesh came to the marchers' camp around noon with Raj Babbar, Congress MP from Firozabad, and in his half-hour speech promised full support for their demands and cause. 

An agenda would be ready in six months and placed before the government for implementation, he said.

On Wednesday, the marchers camped in COD Ground on Gwalior Road here. Over the past three days, their representatives held several rounds of talks with central ministers and Congress leaders. 

The marchers earlier shouted slogans, carried banners and flags and halted every 20-25 km on their way from Gwaliar to Delhi.

In Agra, activist Swami Agnivesh, yoga guru Baba Ramdev, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and Communist Party of India-Marxist and Samajwadi Party leaders joined the marchers. 

In Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav earlier instructed his party workers in Agra to provide all help and support to the marchers.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati also extended support to the demands of the marchers. The Congress and the BJP leaders, including the Agra mayor, also assured full support.