Drop charges against Barkagaon ex-MLAs: Congress leader Subodh Kant Sahay

HAZARIBAG: Veteran Congress leader Subodh Kant Sahay on Monday urged the state government to drop the cases against the party’s former Barkagaon legislators Yogendra Sao and Nirmala Devi.
Sahay said the decision to raise a formal request to the government was agreed unanimously by CPI's former Hazaribag MP Bhuvaneshwar Prasad Mehta, Congress’ Barhi MLA Umashankar Akela, RJD (L) president Gautam Sagar Rana and members of the Barkagaon Sangharsh Samiti at a meeting held on Monday.
Sao and his wife Nirmala were booked in various cases by the then Raghubar Das government in 2016 when they led local residents to protest against the NTPC’s land acquisition drive in Barkagaon for its coal mining project, which later was named as Pakri-Barwadih coal project. Over 8,000 families were displaced by the NTPC without giving adequate compensation, Sahay claimed.
Referring to a committee which was constituted in July this year by the government with North Chotanagpur commissioner as its head to look into the acquisition process for the project, Sahay said the Hemant Soren government must ensure that the displaced are compensated as per provisions of the Centre’s land acquisition law along with the rehabilitation and resettlement policies.
Notably, Barkagaon MLA Amba Prasad had also led the locals into a mass demonstration in July to press for their demands, which led to a temporary closure of work at the project. The residents suspended their protests temporarily after the committee gave them assurances that a report will be filed to the state land reforms and revenue department by August 21.