Communist Party of India (Marxist) State secretary B.V. Raghavulu and three State secretariat members of the party who are on indefinite fast on the issues of dalit and tribal welfare are continuing their indefinite fast at the Gandhi hospital where they are admitted. CPI state secretary K Narayana and other leaders called on Raghavulu, G Nagaiah, S Veeraiah and Midiam Babu Rao at the state-run Gandhi hospital here where they were admitted.
Com. Raghavulu along with former MP Midiam Babu Rao, G. Nagaiah and S. Veeraiah were forcibly lifted from the fasting venue Indira Park late last night and moved to Gandhi Hospital. The leaders, however, rejected the doctors' plea to allow them to administer saline or any other fluids. Police shifted the fasting leaders last night from Indira Park where they have been on indefinite fast from March 17. Condemning the forcible shifting of the leaders, several other CPI(M) leaders today demanded that the government address the about 50 issues raised by the party or quit. CPI (M) central committee member V. Srinivasa Rao criticised the government for trying to suppress the agitation. The CPI(M) workers held protests in Hyderabad and elsewhere in the state against the police action. Raising slogans against the government and the “highhandedness” of the police, they burnt the effigy of the State government.
Their demands include introduction of a special scheme for development of dalit and tribal localities, bringing in a special law for implementation of the sub-plan for SC/STs, effective implementation of forest rights act, lifting of cases registered by forest department against tribals, payment of compensation to those affected by Polavaram irrigation project and return of their lands.
Other demands include appointment of members and chairman for SC/ST commission, provision of identity cards for tenant farmers, regulation of micro-finance companies, and PDS ration cards for all eligible applicants.
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