Landless poor march to Delhi to demand their rights

A large number of people, including those from tribal groups, on Wednesday set out on a Jan Satyagraha march to Delhi from Gwalior to highlight the problems of the landless poor.

Before the march, Ekta Parishad chairman P V Rajagopal, who has led the movement, told reporters that they will wait for the government's "positive response in writing" on the issues raised by them, till they reach Agra.

"If nothing concrete comes in writing till then, we will go ahead with our plan to march to Delhi to highlight our demands," he said.

Nearly 50,000 people in groups of 1,000 each embarked on the march, with its first stop being Banmore town. They will go up to Morena on Wednesday and from there will march towards Agra on Thursday.

On Tuesday, Union ministers Jairam Ramesh and Jyotiraditya Scindia had held talks with the activists, led by Rajagopal, on the issue.

Ramesh invited the agitators to New Delhi on October 11 to hold further talks with him.

"We have assured the protesters that the government will consider all their demands sympathetically and try to fulfill them in totality," the minister had said.