Farmers Movement Archive

UP: Rakesh Tikait demands Rs 40L compensation for Dalit sanitation worker’s family

(This story originally appeared in on Oct 26, 2021)AGRA: Bhartiya Kisan Union national spokesperson Rakesh Tikait has demanded compensation of Rs 40 lakh for the kin of Dalit sanitation worker Arun Valmiki, who allegedly died in police custody recently. After meeting Valmiki's family at their residence on Monday, Tikait said that “there is no difference between a sanitation worker and a farmer”, and therefore, Valmiki’s family should get similar compensation as was paid to families of farmers killed in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence. Talking to media persons, Tikait said that if the government has announced to provide a compensation amount of Rs 40 lakh to Lakhimpur farmers, then the same amount should also be given to the sanitation worker’s kin. “If the right to vote is the same for all, then the compensation amount should also be the same,” he said. He also demanded a judicial inquiry into Valmiki's death. “The government must provide a permanent job in the municipal corporation to Arun Valmiki’s wife. The compensation amount of Rs 10 lakh is insufficient as there are three minor children in the family, and their entire life lies ahead of them. We will stage a protest, if the family is not taken care of properly.” On being asked about social activist Yogendra Yadav, who was suspended from the farmers’ body by Samyukt Kisan Morcha after he met the family members of a BJP worker who was killed during the Kheri violence, Tikait said that he has gone on leave. “He had to write a book and prepare some papers, so he has gone on leave for a few days and will come back on November 21,” he said. Meanwhile, four CCTV cameras were installed in and around Valmiki’s house by Azad Samaj party workers to monitor the movement of persons around their house. This was done after the family expressed fear of harassment by the police to the party’s president Chandrashekhar Azad, who had met them recently.

The Times of India

2021-10-26

Agra