The CPI(M) today pledged it would fight against acquisition of agricultural land by private companies in the Sonahatu block in Ranchi district for their proposed plants.
Addressing a public meeting at a village in the block, about 125-km from here, party Politburo member Brinda Karat cited how thousands of people had been displaced following setting up of companies in the past by public sector.
"And we will not allow any new displacement in the state," she asserted. People of several villages in Sonahatu would be affected if the companies acquired land "stretching to thousands of acres affecting the livelihood of farmers and the poor," she said.
"The CPI(M) will never allow acquisition of agriculture land, also protected by the fifth schedule," Brinda said and asked the companies to look for barren lands. "In automated plants, job opportunities are also not there," she claimed.
In his speech, Kisan Sabha (CPI(M)'s agrarian front) chief and party's Lok Sabha candidate from Ranchi, Rajendra Singh Munda alleged, "Land laws are being flouted, leading to distress of farmers and poor tribals."
The CPI(M) state unit secretary, G K Bakshi claimed, "A canal near the block was deliberately left defunct, despite a river flowing nearby, causing irrigation problem."
