INDIA: Tamil Nadu labourers blockade for rice

On February 4, 2000, agricultural labourers in the Nagapattinam district of Tamil Nadu turned what had been planned as a rally into a militant, hours-long blockade. The state assembly had shut down aid relief in the area 40 days after the Boxing Day tsunami ravaged the province, salting much farmland and destroying hundreds of thousands of workers' livelihoods. The protest was organised by the All India Agricultural Labourers Federation, and demanded 60 kilograms of rice and 2000 rupiahs for each affected family; implementation of food for work schemes; and land reclamation programs. When the protesters refused to disperse after many hours, the local official signed an agreement to give each family 20kgs of rice and work under the work-for-food scheme, under union supervision.

From Green Left Weekly, March 9, 2005.

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From GLW issue 618