IN Ramgarh district in Jharkhand, the district administration in a ploy to keep the rural and urban poor workers outside the poverty line, is trying to get an affidavit in the name of verification. There is a fair possibility that on the basis of the conditions included in the letter most of the poor will be kept out of the poverty line.
CPI(ML) organized a protest in Ramgarh where thousands of rural men and women, workers and farmers marched and gheraoed the subdividion office. Since the time AJSU-BJP alliance government came to the power, the assaults on the poor workers and farmers have increased. AJSU talks of making Ramgarh district a hub of technology and development, however on the pretext of this it is only unleashing bullets on the farmers and snatching lands from them. After destroying the district through intense pollution, profits are being ensured to the corporate. The Raghuvar government is bent on denying the poor even of the minimum facilities and the ration that they are being able to get through food security at present. The entire Ramgarh district has been affected by drought however instead of declaring the complete district as drought-affected and ensuring relief for the poor, only one block has been declared drought-affected. In the matter of ensuring settlement of crop insurance to the farmers, nearly 90% of farmers in the Ramgarh city council region were kept denied of the same. Even the farmers who had their crops insured have not been paid the amount due to them. The rural poor and workers organized a gherao to protest against this injustice and warned that if their demands are not met, CPI(ML) will begin a ‘Road block’ and ‘Jail Bharo’ movement. At the end of the gherao, a three point charter of demands was submitted to the district deputy commissioner through the block officer. The key demands are: 1- The conditions included in the ‘affidavit’ being made in the name of verification of card holders who come under the scope of the food security, are against the poor. Hence these should be immediately withdrawn and the ration card should be provided to all the poor. 2- In the absence of rains, the paddy crop sown by the farmers in the district has been completely destroyed. Hence, Ramgarh district should be declared drought affected and the affected farmers should be paid the insurance amount and relief work must be carried out among the poor. 3- The crop insurance scheme must also be implemented for the farmers in the Ramgarh city council region.
