Kevadia (Narmada): The over a year long Dharna (sit in) and relay fast of Aadivasis affected by the Sardar Sarovar Narmada Project today ended with the Guajrat government assuring the protestors to take action on all their demands.

Revenue Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, minister of state for forest and tribal leader Shabd Sharan Tadvi and BJP spokesperson Bharat Pandya had visited the Dharna site near Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Ltd office here and ended the fast by offering juice to the protestors.

Leader of the protestors Jiku Tadvi later said that the protest has ended as the government has agreed to all their demands including giving job to one person in each of the displaced family and similar compensation and treatment to the displaced of all the three states Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.

He said that Chudasma Saheb offered juice to him and two other male protestors and 3 female protestors to end the fast which had started on July 15 last year exactly a year and three days back.

Jiku said that he was happy that the government has agreed to and already started some work in the displaced colonies in the direction of providing better civic amenities like drinking water, electricity and roads etc. It has also agreed to provide irrigation facilites for the land provided to the displaced people.

BJP spokesperson Pandya said that that Chudasma assured them to take all possible steps. ‘Some of the demands might be involving other states and a bit complex but it would also be taken care of. We have taken a human approach to the whole thing,’ he said.

Notably, the protestros had begun the protest demanding full and fair rehabilitation which they haven’t yet got despite being displaced in the late 1980’s and 1990’s. While the 5 acres of land to each oustee family, including the major sons of the landholder has been given; irrigation and the canal network were not provided in most of these lands. The adivasis were also upset because they were promised jobs in an official memorandum issued in the 1990s. However, this promise was not kept either and the decision was not implemented.

DeshGujarat