KHAMMAM: The All-India Kisan Mazdoor Sabha (AIKMS) State executive committee, which met here on Monday, asked the Government to revise the rehabilitation and resettlement package announced for the people to be displaced by the Polavaram project.

Addressing a news conference, AIKMS national general secretary Gade Diwakar and the newly elected State unit general secretary K. Rangaiah said that the AIKMS and the CPI-ML (New Democracy) would jointly organise `Chalo Polavaram' rally on March 22 to press the demand.

They said the rehabilitation and resettlement package in its original shape would leave the displaced high and dry. Both tribals and non-tribals were concerned about the terms of compensation. They wanted the Government to take up work on the project only after revising the package.

The AIKMS leaders wanted the Government to take up the beedi-leaf operations on its own by offering Rs 1.50 paise per bundle of 50 leaves. They said that the beedi-leaf collection was a major source of income for tribal communities during the lean period.

Any enhancement in the collection charges would directly benefit tribals involved in the operations. The AIKMS urged the Government to ensure a fair deal to all the fishermen societies and individuals genuinely depending on the lake. They said the administration should act against influential persons with big stakes in the lake instead of depriving the poor of their livelihood.

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