While arranging a mega farmer’s meet to felicitate veteran lawyer activist Prashant Bhusan and Medha Patekar on September 9 at Puri for their relentless efforts against illegal land grabbing, illegal mining and environmental pollution of various corporates including of Vedanta, various social activists, intellectuals and political leaders called for a fight against Government- corporate nexus in Odisha.
Addressing a Press meet on Friday here, activist and former MLA Uma Ballav Rath elaborated the SC judgement on Vedanta issue and demanded that Government must immediately return land to the farmers who had donated for the Vedanta University project in Puri.
He told that farmers and representatives of people’s organisations fighting against various corporates for land, forest and water from all over Odisha and outside will participate in the meeting and a strong people’s network will be created to counter the Corporate Raj.
Veteran Sarvodaya leader Krishna Mohanty told that civil societies most come forward against the Corporate Raj. Senior Congress leader and MLA Narasingha Mishra demanded that as per the SC order in the Vedanta case, apart from returning land to the people, criminal action should be initiated against the persons involved in the fraudulent land deal, including the CM .
Among others, Congress leaders and former Ministers Jagannath Pattanaik and Panchanan Kanunago, Sashmia Behera and Gandhian leader Padma Charan Naik were present in the meet.