A group of activists, social workers and politicians took a vow on Monday for an all-out movement against the proposed Deocha-Pachami coal mine project in Birbhum.
At a convention organised by Young Bengal, an independent youth organisation, organisers sought support from all sections of society to intensify the movement against the proposed coal mine through all possible means, from challenging its legality to organising street protests.
“We have taken a vow to go for an all-out movement against the coal mine that the state government is trying to promote in Birbhum. The government is taking land violating laws without permission from the gram sabha (village committee). We seek support from people of all sections of society,” said Young Bengal president and Left-leaning economist Prasenjit Bose.
ISF MLA Nawsad Siddique, CPM’s tribal leader Pulin Bihari Baske, advocate Jhuma Sen and others took part at the convention.
Organisers also said that they had planned to bring at least a dozen tribal people to the convention, but no one managed to reach the venue as “local police and Trinamul-backed goons prevented them from reaching Calcutta”.
When contacted, local police personnel and Trinamul leaders of Birbhum denied the charges.
Organisers at the convention claimed that the state government is violating the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, in Deocha.
"According to the Act, the government can take land only with the consent of the gram sabha (village committee)…. In case of Deocha-Pachami, the administration started dealing with individuals ignoring the opinion of the village committees," said Bose.
State government officials, however, said many local people have consented to part with their land for the project and around 600 families have accepted the rehabilitation package, including a government job. The state government is following every norm of rehabilitation. there is not a single allegation that the government is taking land forcibly," said an official.
