Konkan Railway project-affected to fast and stage rail roko on Constitution Day, November 26

People who gave up their land, homes and property for the Konkan Railway project are still waiting for their issues to be resolved. The Konkanbhumi Project Affected Action Committee of Ratnagiri alleges that the administration is ignoring these issues. The committee has therefore chosen the path of a decisive agitation.

A joint meeting of the committee decided to hold a fast and a rail roko agitation on November 26, Constitution Day. Before the agitation, a final prior-notice memorandum will be sent to the Konkan Railway Corporation's Chairman and Managing Director (CMD). The same memorandum will also go to the President, the Prime Minister, the Union Railway Minister and the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. A copy will also be given to the concerned MPs and MLAs of the Konkan region.

The committee has said the fight will continue until the demands are met. According to it, the issues of the project-affected were discussed in detail with senior officials of the ARM, CPO and Operations departments, and with administrative officials. The reasons behind the demands, the injustice being done to the project-affected, and related evidence and documents were also submitted. Even so, no firm and positive decision was taken on any demand.

The committee also alleges that questions of the project-affected are held up at senior levels instead of being taken directly to the CMD. It wants action on the ground, not just talks and assurances. It has therefore demanded that the CMD intervene personally and hold a meeting with the committee's representatives.

Strict recruitment conditions are also a major issue. The committee has already submitted a memorandum to the administration against the conditions imposed on the project-affected in Konkan Railway's Group D Level-1 recruitment. The demands are: negative marking in recruitment should be scrapped; the physical test of walking while carrying 35 kg should be cancelled; age-based relaxation should be given in the one-kilometre run; and the project-affected should get training and employment opportunities under the contract labour system.

The committee has also demanded a separate, in-depth re-examination of ten important cases of the project-affected. These include joint and independent ownership of land, the no-objection certificate required for one job per family, the question of eligibility of daughters, grandsons and granddaughters, delays in heirs' consent letters, and other eligibility-related matters. According to the committee, it had earlier been assured that these cases would be re-examined and a just decision taken. But despite repeated follow-ups, it alleges, there has been neither firm action nor a written reply.