Allot land to tribal people: Medha Patkar

Thiruvananthapuram: Narmada Bachao Andolan leader and activist Medha Patkar on Sunday urged the government to allot land to each tribal family by utilising the 19,000 acres of the vested forest land that had been identified by the empowered committee of the Supreme Court for the purpose.

“The land agreement the A.K. Antony government had made with the tribal organisations in 2001 should also be implemented,” Medha Patkar said after visiting the ongoing stand-up protest of tribespeople under the banner of the Adivasi Gothra Mahasabha in the State capital.

Several activists and groups in the state and outside have expressed solidarity with the Adivasi ‘stand-up protest’ being held in Thiruvananthapuram.

The Adivasis started the standing protest on July 9 demanding that the government honour the package it had promised in 2001, to tackle hunger deaths in Adivasi villages and to implement the Forest Rights Act in right earnest.

The protest has become a point of discussion in social media.