India News | Chhattisgarh: Tribal Villagers Barge into Sukma Collectorate, Hold Protest

Jagdalpur, Mar 22 (PTI) Hundreds of villagers under the banner of Sarva Adivasi Samaj (SAS) on Tuesday stormed into the collectorate premises in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district and staged a protest.

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They also demanded the removal of the collector after accusing him of not paying heed to them.

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The Sukma unit of SAS marched to the collectorate with 20 demands, including 100 percent reservation for locals in grade III and IV government jobs in the district, acquittal of innocent tribals lodged in jails on charges of being Naxals after a fair probe, strict action against those involved in religious conversion of tribals.

They also want compensation for those killed in the Edesmetta police firing of 2013, and converting Sukma, Konta and Dornapal nagar panchayats into gram panchayats.

Videos of the protest showed police trying in vain to control the crowd, which managed to throw open the main gate and enter the campus.

SAS Sukma chief Pojja Ram Markam alleged Collector Vineet Nandanwar had refused to meet their delegation, adding that a memorandum was submitted to the Sub Divisional Magistrate before ending the agitation.

Nandanwar said the district administration always pays attention to the demands of the locals and takes appropriate action on it.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)