The indefinite satyagraha organised in turns by the Joint Action Forum of adivasi organisations and the adivasi employees’ unions of AHADS in front of the secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram entered the 12th day on Sunday with the state government not willing to entrust the implementation of any projects or packages formulated for the employees or adivasi workers of the Attapadi Hill Area Development Society (AHADS), which has been disbanded.
“We demanded the entrusting of the Rs 159 crore agricultural package titled ‘Sustainable Livelihood through Organic Farming in Attapadi’ to the employees of AHADS but it has not been considered. The project had been submitted to the government by AHADS. Now, the Agriculture Department has renamed the package ‘Akshay Patra’, which envisages providing 50 per cent subsidy for farming and related activities,” said Pazhaniswamy, chairman of the Joint Action Forum of adivasi organisations and the adivasi employees’ union of AHADS. He said that the Agriculture Department was averse to handing over the project to AHADS.