More than 5000 tribals showed their strong attachment to their lands on Saturday in the city by organising a rally from Sarangpur to Gandhi Ashram.
More than 5000 tribals showed their strong attachment to their lands on Saturday in the city by organising a rally from Sarangpur to Gandhi Ashram. The rally was organised by Eklavya Sangathan - a people's organisation of forest dwellers, which is struggling for its right to forest land entitlement.
The tribals came to participate in the rally to demand effective implementation of "The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act" in the state.
The rally turned into a public convention at a ground near Abhay Ghat, near Gandhi Ashram, where senior Congress leaders and social activists expressed their support for tribal people. Apart from Mistry, Tushar Chaudhary, minister of state of tribal affairs in the Union government, Shaktisinh Gohil, leader of the opposition in the Gajarat assembly, Siddharth Patel, president of Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee, Arjun Modhwadia, former leader of the opposition in the state assembly and social activist Indukumar Jani were present.
Mistry said, "There are watchmen and gardeners in the forest department, who have been working for the last 30 years, and have still not been given permanent employee status by the government. They are forced to work under central government's NREGA scheme."
He further said, "The Union government has given rights to the tribals on forest land. But Gujarat government is not cooperating.”
All the Congress leaders criticised the state government's programs like Garib Kalyan Mela and referred to them as a political move to lure rural and tribal voters for the coming district and taluka panchayat elections in the state.
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