india - 400 prisoners to launch hunger strike for separate Vidarbha

NAGPUR: The demand of separate statehood for Vidarbha is set to get another impetus after around 400 inmates of the Nagpur Central Jail observe one-day hunger strike on August 24. Several political prisoners, attached to the Naxalite movement, are also likely to participate in the agitation. In May this year, around 850 inmates had taken part in such a hunger-strike raising a demand for Vidarbha statehood. The inmates, through a press-note, claimed that Vidarbha could not prosper in the last 53 years being a part of the Maharashtra state. The inmates underlined the fact that given the natural resources and manpower available in the region, Vidarbha can progress if dissected out of the rest of Maharashtra.
They also claimed that a smaller state is more manageable and can be better governed than a bigger one. The inmates further stated that the government should now pay heed to the century-old demand for a separate state of Vidarbha just like Telangana. The prison inmates stated that the government has been instrumental in suppressing the genuine demands for Vidarbha by offering various packages and making hollow promises for progress. On the contrary, Vidarbha has been plagued with several ills like farmers’ suicide, load-shedding, unemployment, poverty and many such unattended problems which included increase in criminal activities, said the press note.