On 10 th May, on the occasion of commemorating the First War of Indian Independence of 1857, a Mahapanchayat of displaced people from more than 40 villages was organized at Gevra in Korba district by the Chhattisgarh Kisan Sabha. The Mahapanchayat raised the issues of providing employment to small landholders affected by SECL’s Kusmunda, Gevra, Dipika, and Korba projects, pending employment for displaced people, restoration of land, and proper rehabilitation.
The Mahapanchayat unanimously resolved to organize a gherao (siege/protest) of the Collectorate in the month of June. It was also decided to intensify the movement through street-corner meetings and rights-awareness campaigns to build public opinion, and, if the demands remain unresolved, to further escalate the agitation by gheraoing the SECL CMD in Bilaspur.
The Mahapanchayat was presided over by Comrade Kapil Paikra, State Secretary of the Kisan Sabha, while the proceedings were conducted by Comrade Deepak Sahu, District Secretary of the Kisan Sabha in Korba. Distinguished speakers included Comrade Prashant Jha, Joint Secretary of the Kisan Sabha; Bipasha Paul of the Chhattisgarh Bachao Andolan; Comrade Saura, State Secretary of CPI (ML) Red Star; and Comrade Tuhin, Polit Bureau member of CPI (ML) Red Star.
Other speakers included Resham Yadav and Damodar Shyam of the Bhumi Visthapit Rozgar Ekta Sangh; Shubham Baghel and Pushpendra from the Kusmunda region; Babita Adile, Rakesh Rajput, Ramesh Kathautia, Prem Nirmalkar, and Pawan Yadav from the Gevra region; Shivratan Kanwar and Amarjeet Kanwar from the Korba region; and Kiran Markam from the Kartali region, who all expressed their views.
Representatives of displaced people from more than 40 villages present at the Mahapanchayat pledged to launch a movement around the Kisan Sabha’s 11-point charter of demands.
