PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/ Lalkuan
To impart further impetus to the movement demanding Bindukhatta be declared a revenue village, the villagers in their thousands gathered at a school in Jad Sector on Wednesday under the banner of Bindukhatta Revenue Village Banao Sangharsh Samiti. The organisers of the gathering said that they would not rest until the State government issues a notification in favour of their long-standing demand. Importantly, the Congress veteran and former chief minister, Harish Rawat and the leader of the opposition in the State Assembly Yashpal Arya addressed the gathering.
Notably, the residents of Bindukhatta have been eking out their living through livestock farming in the Bhabhari region since the time of the Chand dynasty and Katyuri dynasty and even today things for them remain the same. The members of the agitating organisation said the area has not received revenue village status even after eight decades since the country’s independence. They added that due to the elusive revenue village status for them, they are being deprived of various public welfare schemes rolled by the Centre and the State government.
Lending his full weight behind the demand of the agitators, Harish Rawat recalled that the then Congress government helmed by him had declared Bindukhatta a municipality in 2015, but the move had to be withdrawn due to protests. “This is a longstanding demand and the State government should step forward and fulfil the collective demand of the area. The people’s sentiment should be respected,” he said. Aside from Rawat and Arya, former cabinet minister Harishchandra Durgapal and former Assembly Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal also addressed the gathering.
Following the meeting, thousands of villagers rallied in Lalkuan town. Passing through the Martyr’s Memorial and other areas of the town, the procession culminated in the tehsil, where a delegation submitted a memorandum to the district magistrate. The memorandum demanded the State government to issue an order declaring Bindukhatta a revenue village within two months.
The agitating organisation warned that if the notification is not issued within the stipulated timeline, they would stage a sit- at the DM’s office in Haldwani. They further warned of a violent protest if the State government chooses to sit on their demand.
