Noida, Aug 7 (PTI) The Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) began on Saturday a two-month-long campaign to highlight the issues concerning the Dalits and members of backward communities as it gears up for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election slated to be held next year.

The 'Nyay Yatra', led by the RLD's chief Jayant Chaudhary, started from western Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur, where a two-day programme has been organised by the party supporters.

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As part of the campaign, two-day programmes would be organised in Muzaffarnagar, Shamli, Bijnor, Baghpat, Meerut, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Mathura and Hathras before culminating in Agra, the party said in a statement.

"Six demands will be raised through the 'Nyay Yatra' which include the demand for justice for the Hathras girl, cancellation of police cases lodged against youths of Dalit community during the April 2 Bharat Bandh," the RLD said.

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"Contractual sanitation workers should be given permanent employment and their salaries be made on par with others, while manual scavenging should be ended completely," it added.

The RLD also alleged that Dalits are not given benefits of government schemes and demanded action against officials accountable for it. The party also demanded a Rs 4 lakh compensation for every person who died due to COVID-19.

The assembly elections in UP are scheduled for early next year. The RLD, which once held sway in the western region of the state, had suffered a massive rout in the last elections in 2017.

(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)