SUCHNA EVUM ROZGAR KA ADHIKAR ABHIYAN

9, RAJASREE APARTMENTS, JYOTI NAGAR, JAIPUR

PRESS NOTE

We want to give priority to problems of marginalized communities: Chief

Secretary

Jaipur, December 18th, 2010: Exactly a month after the conclusion of the Mazdoor Haq Satyagraha,
social activists with the Suchna Evum Rozgar ka Adhikar Abhiyan met the Rajasthan government Chief
Secretary S.Ahmad, reminded him of the promises made by the state government to the workers and
demanded immediate action on the issues raised in the course of the satyagraha.

A delegation from SR Abhiyan led by activist Nikhil Dey (MKSS) flagged the issues of – taking action
against officers and employees responsible in the case of Gudaliya village, Tonk district where workers
were paid just Re 1 for their work on an NREGA site, registration of a union of NREGA workers, increase
in minimum wages for workers with effect from January 1, 2011 and linking it to the price index, taking
action in the case of the 32 panchayats where special audits were done and strengthening of ward
sabhas, among others. The Chief Secretary was extremely responsive, issuing instantaneous directions
to officers in each of these matters.

Welcoming the Chief Secretary’s order to include nomadic communities like Kanjar, Sansi, Nat, Kalbeliya,
Gadiya Luhar, Banjara, Rayka, Rebari, Khairua and Bagariya in the BPL list based on self-affidavits from
people of these communities, the delegation pointed out that communities like Madari, Od,
Rangaswami and Satiya should also be included in this list, for which the Chief Secretary directed
Principal Secretary, Social Justice department Aditi Mehta to take necessary action.

The delegation brought to the Chief Secretary’s notice that, while on the one hand nomadic tribes were
being taken into the BPL list and given free pattas to settle them, on the other, those settled on grazing
land for years were being mercilessly uprooted and displaced in the name of removing encroachments.

Present in the delegation were Chathurnath, Nagnath, Moolnath and other villagers from Pali district’s
Hariyalimali village in Sojat City. Chathurnath Kalbeliya informed the Chief Secretary that on December
8th, after the campaign Prashan Gaon ke Sang in their village, the sarpanch pati Mangilal Chowdhry,
Badridas and RoopSingh Rajput brought a JCB in the middle of the night and razed 7 pucca houses
belonging to dalit and nomadic communities, after ruthlessly throwing the sleeping children and women
out of their homes. Moreover, they all have ration cards, job cards and mool niwas praman patra; they
even had toilets made by the government for them –all these were destroyed and they have been
rendered homeless and they are now being forced to sleep under the open skies in this cold. Even now,
we are being harassed by the upper castes, said Chathurnath.
Upon hearing this and seeing the photographs of the uprootment, the Chief Secretary directed the Pali
District Collector Neeraj K Pawan to immediately investigate the matter and arrange for the
rehabilitation of the victimized families. Similarly, he also issued instructions to the District Collector,
Jhunjhunu, Mugdha Sinha on hearing the problems of Banjara families from Dada Fatehpura kasba,
Khetdi sub-division. He also directed the Baran district Collector Navin Jain to urgently start a campaign
to free and rehabilitate all bonded labourers in the district, as a follow-up to the cases which came to
light during the Mazdoor Haq Satyagraha.

The Chief Secretary S.Ahmad assured the delegation that the government would take up and resolve
issues of maginalised communities with priority. The delegation also demanded that a state-wide
NREGA helpline, on the lines of the Bhilwara model be put in place, which also he gave his assurance for.

Bhanwar Meghwanshi/Sowmya Sivakumar

(On behalf of the Abhiyan)

Ph: 094603-25948