Villagers displaced by the construction of the Damodar Valley Corporation's Maithon and Panchet dams began a 'jal satyagraha' near here today demanding jobs and a CBI probe into employment given to fake "land-losers".
Over 250 displaced villagers from four districts of West Bengal and Jharkhand assembled on the Damodar river at Simpather, near here, demanding employment and a CBI probe into 9,000 alleged fake appointments in the name of those who lost their land to the project.
The displaced villagers from Dhanbad and Jamtara districts of Jharkhand and Purulia and Burdwan districts of West Bengal began the 'satyagraha' under the banner of 'Ghatwar Adivasi Mahasabha'.
Ramshyra Singh, president of the Mahasabha, said they want employment for genuine persons displaced and also a CBI probe into the appointment of "fake displaced villagers".
Mahasabha claimed that for the construction of the dams, over 38,000 acre of land was acquired in 1953-54 in which 12,000 families of 240 villages were displaced. Besides, the residential land belonging to 1,670 villagers of Dhanbad and Jamtara districts (then in Bihar) and 1,700 families in Purulia and Burdwan districts of Bengal had also been acquired, it claimed.
Singh said family members of these displaced persons had not been given employment till date.
Dhanbad sub-divisional magistrate said he had no information about 'jal satyagraha' being organised. "If it comes to my notice, the administration would take proper action," he said.
