New Delhi

Few hiccups mark Janadesh Yatra

NEW DELHI: When asked if he was a part of Janadesh-2007 walking all the way from Gwalior to Delhi on foot, Babloo did not reply. He merely pointed to his lacerated foot that was swollen and bloody.

Though used to living in jungles with not much separating them from the elements, the yatra was still quite difficult for Babloo and thousands of others. “By the roadside even the blankets proved useless sometimes,” said Babloo.

There were five ambulances accompanying the marches to attend to those who fell ill due to exhaustion. But probably they were not adequate as four people lost their lives due to exertion. The marchers also lost three of their brethren in an accident near Mathura.

A few hiccups here and there apart, Janadesh-2007 in itself was the result of meticulous preparation for over a year.

Explaining how it was all put into place, Sunita Shivvanshi of Shivpuri said volunteers of Ekta Parishad, the non-government organisation which has been in the forefront of the movement, had been visiting villages in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and a few other States since last year to prepare for the yatra.

“A dal-nayak (group leader) supervised the overall arrangements for 1,000 people. Under him or her there were two groups of 500 each, looked after by deputy group leaders. It was broken down to groups of 25. This group system was followed during the entire march,” says Ms. Shivvanshi.

However, Rajkapoor Patel from Champaran in Bihar did not have to walk much during the march as he was part of the cooking team for his group, marked “Ganga”. The other groups were marked “Mahanadi”, “Kaveri”, “Narmada” and “Chambal”, indicating the regions from where the marchers had come.

The cooking teams moved ahead in vehicles to be able to prepare the meal before the marchers reached their destination. “Chana-gur, tea and even ‘khichri’ sometimes would be served for breakfast. There was only one meal during the day, mostly comprising rice, dal and some vegetable,” Rajkapoor informed.

The ration supply was ensured by collections that had been made over the past few months in the villages from where the marchers were supposed to join.

“We also pooled in whatever little money we could and gave it to Janadesh-2007,” chipped in Nathuni Ram, also from Champaran.

While they were well received by locals along the march, some of the marchers did express their disappointment at politicians having kept a distance. Another highlight of the march was that nearly 40 per cent of them were women.

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