Ranchi, Sept. 16: Around 50 leprosy patients, including a 100-year-old man, from Anantpur in the middle of the state capital knocked on the doors of labour, employment and training minister Raj Paliwar at a janata durbar today with a plea to save their homes from being demolished.
As many as 70 leprosy-affected families residing at Nirmala Colony in Anantpur are facing eviction in view of the ongoing anti-encroachment drive in Ranchi. Settled by the government at this place some 50 years ago, the families were served notice by the administration on August 30 to vacate the area as their dwellings had been constructed on encroached government land.
An NGO, Aradhana Mahila Samiti, brought them to the janata durbar at the chief minister's secretariat so that they could convey their plight to minister Paliwar.
A frail 100-year-old Somwari Rajak, who is grappling with poor eyesight, was hardly audible when he told the minister in Bengali: "I spent all my life here. I have nobody to look after me. Where will I go if you demolish my house?"
Paliwar immediately spoke to Ranchi DC Manoj Kumar, who informed him that an anti-encroachment drive had been started to clear River Harmu in keeping with a direction of Jharkhand High Court and Anantpur was one of the areas to face bulldozers.
He assured the group that they would not be evicted till they were settled somewhere else. "I was informed that the state government is planning to relocate these people at Jagannathpur. They are poor and are a kind of pariahs because of their disease," the minister said.
Among the other visitors was a Mal Paharia tribal youth from Dumka, Shravan Kumar, who caught hold of the minister's feet and started crying the moment Paliwar stepped into the janta durbar that drew around 70 people.
Kumar claimed that he was thrown out by a private company, along with 21 other youths, in 2012 without any reason. He and the others had received training in mechanics at the Indo Danish Tool in Jamshedpur under the skill development training programme of the state government. The company that absorbed him first posted him at Haat-Gamharia in Seraikela-Kharsawan district, but sacked him later.
"The state government has a policy to provide jobs to unemployed youths from primitive tribes.I visited several janata durbars, chief minister Raghubar Das and officials of the state government for eight times. But my complaint was never addressed," he said.
The minister spoke to Seraikela-Kharsawan deputy commissioner, asking him to conduct an inquiry into the matter and submit a report within a fortnight.
Social worker Karun Kumar Singh complained to the minister against the removal of three panchayats of Hazaribagh district - Religadha, Tongi and Hesalong -from Giddi police station's jurisdiction and attaching them to the new Dari thana notified last week.
Singh requested the minister to keep these three panchayats with Giddi police station for administrative convenience.
