Pastoralists threaten to gherao Gujarat Assembly during monsoon session

Ahmedabad, Sep 6 (IANS) The Maldhari Mahapanchayat leaders and Maldhari's religious gurus met recently and have decided to gherao the state assembly during the monsoon session which is likely by the end of this month.MMP president Nagji Desai told the media that pastoralists are facing serious problems, the state government is merging village after village in the city limits which compromises grazing land. Without the grazing land where will the cattle find fodder, and the government is not coming up with a solution. So the Maldharis have decided to organize a march and gherao the assembly. Some one lakh Maldharis from across the state will reach Gandhinagar either the day before the session begins or when the session is in progress, he told the media.The monsoon session is likely to commence in the third or fourth week of this month. Another meeting of the Maldhari Mahapanchayat will take place on Thursday, where the agitation and protest road map will be prepared."The government is not sticking to its word. Post the High Court interim order, the government had said that if cattle are caught by the municipal corporation's team and kept in the shelter home, it will not levy a charge, but now the corporation is charging for it," he said.Another demand is that as promised by the ruling party, the government should scrap the Gujarat Cattle Control (Keeping and Moving) in the Urban Area Bill. The bill was passed on the last day of the budget session this year.
--IANS har/bg

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