IndiaAn ongoing protest against a coal mining project

 An ongoing protest against a coal mining project in the Tamnar block of Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh district turned violent Saturday, with incidents of stone-pelting, vandalism and arson.

According to police, tensions escalated at the Jindal Coal Handling Plant (CHP) chowk in Libra village, where protests and road blockade have been underway since December 12. Villagers from 14 affected villages under the (Gare Pelma) Sector-I coal block in Tamnar area have been staging a sit-in protest at CHP chowk in Libra village since December 12 against a public hearing held for th

SILCHAR: Taking cue from the agitation in the Brahmaputra valley, the demand for ST status for the Adivasi tea garden community hit the streets of Silchar. Hundreds agitated Adivadi demonstrators blocked the busy roads in Silchar demanding ST status for the tea garden labourers, issuance of land pattas to the indigenous people, fixing of daily wages at par with their Brahmaputra valley counterparts. The agitation, mainly orchestrated by the All Assam Adivasi Students Association and supported by Barak Cha Shramik Union, the Central Committee of the Adivasi Tea Community Karma Puja and Cultural Conference, the Barak Valley Tea Youth Welfare Association, and Barak Valley Adivasi Association, sent a clear message to the ruling party that their demands should be addressed properly before the ensuing Assembly election. Working President of the Barak Cha Shramik Union Ajit Singh, who was a minister in the erstwhile Congress government, participated in the protest and warned the government not to test the patience of the tea community who had long been demanding ST status as well as land patta and wages at par the Brahmaputra valley tea labourers. The demands included fixing the daily wages at Rs 551.

A student leader while addressing the gathering said that despite repeated assurances by the state government, the disparity in daily wages still persisted in both the valleys. He further added that in 2016 Himanta Biswa Sarma, then a powerful minister in the erstwhile Sarbananda Sonowal government, had assured that land pattas would be awarded to tea labourers, but the promise remained unfulfilled in the last 9 years