Dec 12, 2007, 9:47 GMT
Raipur, Dec 12 (IANS) A tribal leader said Wednesday that the administration was harassing farmers in Chhattisgarh's southern Bastar region because they refuse to hand over prime farmland to steel major Tata Steel for its proposed plant.
The district administration strongly refuted the charges and described the allegation a 'cooked-up story'.
Manish Kunjam, president of the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Mahasabha, an umbrella organisation of tribal groups, said: 'The district administration forcibly stopped over 100 farmers Saturday at Bastar district when they were travelling on a bus to reach state capital Raipur to report to Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan the administration's excesses with Tata steel protesters.'
'Some 100 farmers, who are refusing to accept the land surrender package of the Tata Steel, just wanted to complain to the governor against local authorities' pressure tactics to surrender lands in favour of the Tatas. They were forcibly asked to step out from the Raipur-bound bus at Bastar district's headquarters at Jagdalpur city. Some were also ill-treated by the police Saturday night,' Kunjam said.
'It is all a cooked-up story. The administration was no way involved in any excesses against anyone,' Bastar district collector Ganesh Shankar Mishra told IANS over phone Wednesday.
'Farmers are voluntarily accepting the compensation package and giving up land for the Tata Steel plant,' he added.
Kunjam led a protest of about 75,000 tribals Nov 5 at Jagdalpur city, 25 km from the Tatas' planned five-million tonnes a year steel plant site.
Tribals, armed with traditional weapons bows and arrows, marched through Jagdalpur and raised slogans against the proposed industrialisation and eviction of indigenous tribes from their traditional lands.
The district administration stepped up the land acquisition process for the proposed plant at Lohandiguda block (sub-district) under Chitrakote assembly segment after Nov 5.
It has so far acquired almost 60 percent of the 5,098 acres spread over 10 villages in Lohandiguda.
The Tata Steel has signed an agreement with the state government to invest Rs.100 billion for the Bastar plant to be set up in two phases.
© 2007 Indo-Asian News Service
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