By IANS,
New Delhi : Dalit land rights activists Friday said they would start a two-day agitation in the national capital beginning Saturday to press for their various demands.
The activists under the banner of National Alliance for Dalit Land Rights told reporters that they would not let the government avoid their demands this time.
“A large number of Dalit land rights movements have come together to raise their voices collectively to articulate their aspirations, concerns and demands before the government,” said Vincent Manoharan, chairperson of the National Federation of Dalit Land Rights Movements.
“We will flood Jantar Mantar tomorrow (Saturday) and the next day. Our demands include equitable distribution of land, freeing land from NRIs and corporations who do not use arable land for agriculture,” he added.
“The state and central governments have failed to enact laws in this regard,” said Jai Singh, an activist from Punjab.
The National Sample Survey data shows that the percentage of landless and near-landless households was 79.20 among Scheduled Castes in 1999-2000.