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After days of parleys, the Ekta Parishad, which is leading a march of tribals to Delhi to press for land reforms, is understood to have reached an accord with the Centre as Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh is expected to meet protesters in Agra on Thursday.
The Parishad Media Coordinator Jayant Singh Tomar said Ramesh has obtained clearance from the Prime Minister on all the points on which a consensus was reached between the Centre and the protesters.
Ramesh, who reaches Agra on Thursday, would be apprised of the decisions taken by the Parishad after its meeting in Agra today.
The Minister said “the nation will get happy news” in Agra when the rally of the landless poor, led by Ekta Parishad leader P. V. Rajagopal, reaches there this week.
“We have a constructive view of the demands raised by the Ekta Parishad and we have discussed it a lot. I am happy that we are heading towards an agreement and the day after the nation will get happy news from the city of the Taj Mahal (Agra),” Ramesh told presspersons after his meeting with the representatives of the Parishad in Delhi today.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is also expected to visit the protesters today.
Under the banner of the Ekta Parishad, headed by social activist P. V. Rajagopal, thousands of people are marching to Delhi from Gwalior demanding a comprehensive National Land Reforms Act and effective implementation and monitoring institutions to provide access to land and livelihood resources to poor landless, homeless and marginalised communities.
The ‘Jan Satyagraha’ began on October 2 and is scheduled to carry on for one month before culminating in New Delhi. The protesters would cover a distance of about 320 km by October 28.
Ramesh, who had gone to Gwalior along with Minister of State for Industry and Commerce Jyotiraditya Scindia to pacify the activists, said: “I am fully hopeful that when I return from Agra everyone will he happy.
“I will address from their camp and we are heading in a direction from where we can sign the agreement. I have full hope that the day after there will be a historic agreement in Agra,” Ramesh said.
S. C. Behar, a member of the Ekta Parishad, said “a detailed account is being prepared and the day after you may get some very interesting things.
“There is a hope that good things will happen the day after,” he said.
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