No work for them under MGNREGA, UP villagers take up canal-cleaning project on their own
Banda (UP): Unable to find work under the MGNREGA, a group of villagers here have started on the laborious task of cleaning a canal so that water reaches its tail-end.
About 70 labourers from Naugava village in Naraini tehsil have decided to do it for free a shramdaan to give life again to land turning barren. Authorities now want to pay them for the job they have taken upon themselves, but the villagers have turned down the offer.
Shyamlal, one of the workers, said villagers were not finding work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.
A stretch of the 40-km-long canal between Guhala Kalan and Divli villages was also not cleaned for years, he adds.
Due to this, the fertile agriculture land was becoming barren. I was sitting idle since I did not get any job under the MGNREGA. Then I thought that I should clean the canal so that water reaches its tail-end and we are able to grow foodgrains to feed our children," he says.
Another labourer, Ramswaroop, says people from nearby villages have donated food to them, which is being cooked by women involved in the sharmdaan .
Gulabrani, Mamta, Sumitra and Rani are among the women taking care of the task. They have named their kitchen "Shramdaan Rasoi". At present, 65-70 people are involved in the initiative, says Gulabrani.
"Till a few years ago, crops were irrigated by water from this canal. But for the past two to four years due to the non-cleaning of silt, there was a shortage of water," she says.
Sumitra, who is also cooking food with Gulabrani, says if every agriculture field gets water, crops can be produced and people will not have to go to other places to earn a living .
Meanwhile, the Executive Engineer of the Irrigation Department in Banda, Sharad Singh, said, "As we got news on Saturday of labourers doing the 'shramdaan', a departmental staffer was sent.
We spoke to them over the phone. Their work is praiseworthy. We offered to pay wages but they did not agree to it," he says.
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Periya twin murder: CBI Court sentences 10 to life imprisonment
Kochi(PTI): A CBI court here on Friday sentenced 10 persons to life imprisonment, while four others, including a former CPI(M) MLA, received five years in prison for the murder of two Youth Congress workers at Periya in Kasaragod district five years ago.
The court which convicted 14 accused on Saturday gave 10 of them life imprisonment under two counts of murder and criminal conspiracy. They will serve the sentences concurrently.
These 10 accused were charged with murder and criminal conspiracy under Sections 302, 120(b) read with 149 of the IPC.
"They have been sentenced to life imprisonment on both charges, to run concurrently," the prosecutor said after the court pronounced the verdict.
The accused who were given life imprisonment include former CPI(M) Periya local committee member A Peethambaran, Suresh, Saji George, Anilkumar, Jijin, Sreerag, Aswin, Sudheesh, Renjith and Surendran.
Meanwhile, former MLA and CPI(M) district leader K V Kunhiraman, Kanhangad block panchayat president K Manikandan, Velutholi Raghavan, and A V Bhaskaran, were sentenced to five years' imprisonment by the court.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 2 lakh on each of the convicts.
On December 28, of the 24 accused, the court found the first eight guilty of murder and conspiracy charges, another six guilty of conspiracy, destruction of evidence, and providing assistance in the operation of the crime, while the remaining 10 accused were acquitted in the case.
The case pertains to the murder of Youth Congress workers Kripesh, 19, and Sarath Lal P K, 24, allegedly by CPI(M) workers on February 17, 2019.
According to the prosecution, the twin murders were carried out following politically motivated attacks and counterattacks between CPI(M) and Congress workers in the area.
