Landless poor march towards Delhi from Gwalior

More than 25,000 landless poor on Thursday begun their march to Delhi from Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior town demanding land reforms.

Days after the farmers' protests in the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border area, the landless poor started their journey on foot around 10 a.m. to reach the national capital.

They have been holding discussions in Gwalior's Mela Maidan from October 2-3. On the second day, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan assured the protesters to take their demands to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Under the aegis of Ekta Parishad, thousands of landless poor have put up five demands in their "Jan Andolan 2018".

They are demanding for a national land reforms policy and its effective implementation, implementation of Forest Rights Act 2005 and a 1996 law regarding panchayats, setting up of special courts to take up pending land-related cases, women farmer rights act, and a law related to agricultural land rights.

Several activists including P.V. Rajagopal, Rajendra Singh, and gandhian Subbarao are leading the protesters.

Former Union Minister Yashwant Sinha has shown support for the protesters. On October 6, Congress President Rahul Gandhi will reach Morena to demonstrate his support.

--IANS

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