Tribals from four blocks collect and auction coal on Gandhi Jayanti annually, in defiance of government rules
Villagers from many villages of Chhattisgarh dug coal from their respective areas and reached the satyagraha site with it in metal containers. Photo: Rajesh Tripathi It has been 92 years since Mahatma Gandhi conducted the Salt Satyagraha at Dandi in Gujarat. But the spirit of that agitation has remained alive in a remote corner of India. Since 2011, tribals in Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh district stage a ‘coal satyagraha’ every October 2.
On October 2, 2022, thousands of tribals from 56 Gram Panchayats dug one tagara (a metal container) with coal in their respective areas and came to Urwa Pelma village under the Gram Panchayat of Tamnar development block.
They raised slogans such as Hamar Koyla, Hamar Haq (Our coal, our right) at the Tamnar development block headquarters. Everyone, from children to the elderly, had a lump of coal in their hands. They then proceeded to auction the coal.
The 56 Gram Panchayats to which the tribals belong, are spread across the Tamnar, Gharghoda, Dharamjaigarh, Pusaur blocks of Raigarh district.
Residents of Korwa, Raigarh, Ambikapur districts of Chhattisgarh as well as representatives from Jharkhand, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu participated in the satyagraha.
‘Our Land, Our Resources’
The ‘coal satyagraha’ started in 2011 in order to put pressure on the administration to not give coal blocks to big industrialists for mining.
The public hearing on the Gare coal mine was being held January 5, 2008 in the forest near Gare and Khamharia villages when the police resorted to a baton charge. After this, the villagers filed a petition in the Chhattisgarh High Court against the public hearing. Apart from this, the NGT also ruled in favour of the villagers.
The villagers decided in their meeting September 25, 2022 that if coal was necessary for the development of the country, why shouldn’t they form a company and extract coal themselves? The villagers then formed the Gare Tap Utpada Producer Company Limited.
Harihar Patel, one of the founders of the coal satyagraha, said: “We formed a company to extract coal on our own on the basis of ‘Our Land, Our Resources’. We were also able to reach an agreement on 700 acres of land in Gare and Saraitola villages.”
“After this, the villagers started to extract coal from their land. A lot of pressure was put by the police and the administration to stop us. We said we were extracting coal from our land and that nobody could stop us,” Patel added.
Kaushalya Chauhan, 38, a resident of Urwa village, said she had participated in the coal satyagraha four-five times in the past. “The villagers have become more aware due to this satyagraha. We have understood the importance of our water, forest and land. We will never give our land to the government,” she said.
Rajesh Tripathi of Janchetana Manch said the tribals do not want development due to which their lands and fields are no longer theirs.
“While fighting such a long battle, the tribals have understood that Chhattisgarh falls in the Fifth Schedule. The Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Act, 1996 is in force and any mining activity will be illegal without the permission of the Gram Sabha. Companies are ready to pay Rs 8 lakh and 6 lakh as compensation but the villagers do not want to take compensation in lieu of giving up their land,” he said.
Last year, Chhattisgarh Governor Anusuiya Uikey had suggested to the state government to give a share of royalty to Scheduled Tribes if it acquired their land for mineral extraction.
In a letter to Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, she referred to the provisions of the Fifth Schedule and said arrangements should be made so that tribals continue to get monthly or annual rent instead of getting compensation as a one-time payment.
This rent can be linked to the wholesale price index, so that it keeps increasing along with inflation from time to time.
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