Friday, October 12, 2012

Indian march for land ends

Here's the update from the New York Times on the story I wrote this blog post about a few days ago:
A massive protest march involving tens of thousands of India' poorest people came to an abrupt halt Thursday, short of its New Delhi destination, after the central government agreed to introduce a national policy to give land to the landless. 
The Ministry of Rural Development has agreed to craft the policy with the help of the march's organizers, particularly non-profit group Ekta Parishad.  An agreement between the government and the march organizers includes promises by the Ministry to draft this policy in the next four to six months and to pressure states to protect land rights of lower classes and set up fast-track courts to deal with land issues.
The story goes on to note that "[t]ens of millions of farmers in India do not own the land on which they farm." But land issues loom large for many city dwellers, too.  About 200 million Indians live in illegal slums, where they face disruption and eviction.

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