Nagpur: The Vidarbha Rajya Andolan Samiti (VRAS) announced a Koyla Roko Andolan on May 1, to stop coal from leaving the coal mines near Umred. This protest is being held to attract the Central Government’s attention towards the demand for a separate Vidarbha.
Announcing this at a press conference, Adv Wamanrao Chatap said, “The Maharashtra Government does not care about Vidarbha, which has been made even more clear in the recent State Budget. So, on Maharashtra Day, May 1, the members of VRAS will stage a protest by wearing black belts, clothes and caps to demand an independent state,” Chatap said, adding the MPs and Union Ministers and Deputy Chief Minister hailing from Vidarbha have been banned from entering villages.
The VRAS leaders pointed out that Vidarbha produces coal from which over 6,300 MW of electricity is produced. Out of this, only 2,200 MW is used by the region. However, the mining process produces so much pollution that a team of cardiologists have said that if this is not controlled then the largest number of heart patients would be found in Vidarbha and Chandrapur.
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The leaders further said Maharashtra is the most indebted state, with a loan of Rs 65,000 crore and the State is fast heading towards bankruptcy. The budget of the state is in deficit and there are 14 lakh people unemployed in Vidarbha as the government doesn’t have the money to pay them.
More than two lakh posts are vacant and because of this policies are not being implemented. All these problems have one solution, which is the independent state of Vidarbha, they said. More than 58 percent of farmers have to face 6 to 12 hours of load shedding even today, Chatap said.
Vidarbha Rajya Andolan Samiti stated that it has given an ultimatum to the Government to solve the issue of separate Vidarbha state before December 31, 2023.
Under Article 3 of the Constitution, only the Central Government and the Parliament have the power to declare Vidarbha as an independent state. So, VRAS is trying to attract the attention of the Centre by launching the Koyla Roko Andolan. Through such means the VRAS aims to form Vidarbha as an independent state by the year’s end, said its leaders.
