Maoists fell trees, block roads in Rayagada
The outlawed CPI (Maoist) called a bandh in seven districts of Odisha over their 12-point charter of demands, causing road traffic to be disrupted, with the rebels resorting to blockades by felling trees in several places, including Pankalguri near Hanumantpur under Chandrapur block in Rayagada district on Monday.
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Bhubaneswar: The outlawed CPI (Maoist) called a bandh in seven districts of Odisha over their 12-point charter of demands, causing road traffic to be disrupted, with the rebels resorting to blockades by felling trees in several places, including Pankalguri near Hanumantpur under Chandrapur block in Rayagada district on Monday.
Posters and banners accusing the state of denying underprivileged people access to essential services such as education, healthcare, and housing were also discovered in the Chandrapur and Basadhara-Ghumusur-Nagavali blocks.
In an audio release on Friday, the banned outfit announced that it would enforce bandh in Rayagada, Kandhamal, Ganjam, Kalahandi, Boudh, Gajapati, and Nayagarh districts to press its demands. The bandh would not apply to essential services such as hospitals, ambulances, medical stores, and examination centers.
Their demands included the allocation of houses to deserving beneficiaries under the PM Awas Yojana or the Biju Awas Yojana within six months, free supply of oil, dal, salt, and PDS rice, road construction, drinking water supply, and power connection to all villages, and the construction of hospitals in each panchayat.
The Maoists demanded the establishment of Adarsh Schools in every panchayat, the reopening of schools closed due to a lack of sufficient students, the appointment of teachers to vacant posts, and a monthly scholarship of Rs 3,000 for tribal students, claiming that education has been most neglected in these districts' backward areas.
Highlighting the area's unemployment problems, the Maoists demanded a monthly unemployment allowance of Rs 3,000, as well as an increase in the old age and widow pension to Rs 3,000.
