Tribal protest for land rights called off on CM’s assurance

THANE: A day-long protest march by members of the tribal community was concluded following an assurance by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis that the right of the adivasis to land in the forest area would be protected.
The chief minister called representatives of the protesting tribal members to his official residence, Varsha, late on Tuesday and addressed their issues, following which the protesters decided to call of the stir.

Over 40,000 tribal families squatted on the streets of Thane from Tuesday afternoon, demanding basic facilities like water, uninterrupted power supply, right to cultivation on forest land, better health infrastructure and education for their children.

They also voiced their reservations about the upcoming Metro car shed project.

“Around 10pm, we received a call from the chief minister asking us to meet him. We put forth our demands and discussed the issues. In case of the Aarey Colony land issue, the state government has promised to conduct a survey and has even appointed special officials to see to it that the locals were not uprooted and were given remuneration. They have also agreed to not re-rehabilitate the tribal people to a building as that would destroy their source of livelihood. He has given us a deadline of December 2018,” said Vivek Pandit, who led the protest.

The government has also decided to appoint officials to take an overview of the water crisis-like situation in Vasai.

The community has also demanded a pension scheme for tribal senior citizens as in the case of Madhya Pradesh.

Villagers hailing from Nashik, Thane, Mumbai, Raigad, Vasai, Bhiwandi, Shahapur, Palghar and Mokhada had staged a night-long protest. They came equipped with stoves and change of clothes too.