Farmers Movement Archive

Left parties in Jharkhand seek spl assembly session to junk farm laws

Ranchi: A delegation of Left parties on Friday met chief minister Hemant Soren to demand a special session of the state assembly to reject the farm laws passed by the Centre and also initiate the process for holding the panchayat elections. The six-member delegation comprising leaders from CPI, CPM, Marxist Coordination Committee and the CPI(M-L) submitted a 14-point memorandum on various issues of the state. The leaders also urged the state government to support the countrywide agitation staged by farmers and sought simplification of the procurement process of farm products in the state. Notably, the memorandum contained several other demands, including steps to curb the rising crime graph in the state, free vaccination for preventing Covid-19, giving employment to dependent family members of mob lynching victims in their home districts, conduct of special drives for distribution of forest pattas, raising the minimum wage, stopping the process of privatisation of the health sector and reopening of all schools closed after mergers. Janardhan Prasad of CPI(M-L) said, “We also mentioned that plans to set up elephant corridors would lead to displacement of people and sought an alternative plan or annulment of the scheme.” Meanwhile, around 2,000 members of the Centre of Indian Trade Union (CITU) staged demonstration and courted arrest in different districts of the state, demanding annulment of the labour laws, withdrawal of the new farm laws, end to privatisation and other demands. In Ranchi, CITU members took out a rally from the zila school and marched to the district collectorate where they sat on a dharna. CITU’s general secretary Prakash Viplav said 254 people were arrested on the spot and all of them were taken to the Jaipal Singh stadium. The members were released later in the afternoon.

The Times of India

2021-01-09

Ranchi