Madhya Pradesh tribals protest inaction on drought

BHOPAL - Thousands of tribals, including a large number of women and children, held a rally in Madhya Pradesh’s Barwani district Tuesday alleging inaction by the central and state governments on drought and high food prices.

The tribals, who were protesting under the aegis of Jagrit Adivasi Dalit Sangathan, said the rich and the corporate sector were being pampered with tax subsidies while they were being left to die of hunger.

They demanded the restructuring of rural minimum wage rates and the incorporation of a radically transformed Public Distribution System (PDS) food policy in the proposed National Food Security Act.

The tribals submitted a charter of demands to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan through the collector.

They said the government should immediately lift the 100-day limit under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) and give unlimited work on demand in all drought-affected districts.

“Most of us have already worked 100 days, which has helped us survive the past six months. What do we do now?” one of them asked.

Another said the central government’s freeze on NREGA wages was unjustified in view of raging inflation and should be lifted immediately.

He said the statutory minimum wages should be paid. “As a result of the wage freeze, the NREGA wage in Madhya Pradesh is Rs.91 as against the legal minimum wage of Rs.100 per day.”

The other demands of the tribals included the setting up of fodder depots on demand, waiver of electricity bills in drought-hit districts, restructuring of the minimum wage fixation norms for agriculture workers and an immediate doubling of food quotas under the PDS in drought-affected areas where currently only 20 kg of grain is being given in Madhya Pradesh as against the national norm of 35 kg.

Representatives of the Narmada Bachao Andolan and Samajwadi Jan Parishad also addressed the meeting.