Vidarbha activists burn copy of Nagpur Pact at Variety Chowk, demand separate state

The Vidarbha Rajya Andolan Samiti held a protest at Variety Chowk in Nagpur demanding a separate state of Vidarbha. A copy of the Nagpur Pact was burned during the protest. The protesters said the agreement had been made on September 28, 1953, for the development of Vidarbha.

The protesters said the Nagpur Pact had proved to be an injustice to the people of Vidarbha and was no longer needed. They said a separate state was the only option for the all-round development of Vidarbha.

The protest was led by Nagpur city president Naresh Nimje and district president Prashant Nakhate. A large number of supporters of a separate Vidarbha took part. They alleged that the state government had not honoured key conditions of the Nagpur Pact.

The samiti said money and jobs due to Vidarbha had been diverted to other regions. As a result, it said, a large backlog had built up in the region in irrigation, roads and government jobs. The protesters claimed that Vidarbha has an irrigation backlog of Rs 60,000 crore, a roads backlog of Rs 15,000 crore and a backlog of 2,47,000 government posts. Protests were also held at Butibori, Hingna and several other places in the district.

The samiti also claimed that 48,000 farmers in Vidarbha had died by suicide in the past 21 years. According to it, young people from Vidarbha are having to move in large numbers to other states and cities for higher education and jobs. The samiti said this migration had reduced Vidarbha's population, which in turn had reduced the region's representation in the Lok Sabha and the Assembly.

Nimje said there was a fear that drought would deepen the economic crisis. The protesters said it was not possible for Vidarbha to get justice from the Maharashtra government, and that the Centre should therefore announce a separate Vidarbha state without delay.

Those who took part included Mukesh Masurkar, Arun Kedar, Sunil Chokhare, Jyoti Khandekar, Tatyasaheb Mate, Avinash Kale, Megha Maturkar, Gulabrao Dhande, Anil Kesharwani, Ravindra Bhamode, Vijaya Tajne and Suresh Warshe, among other activists.