The colour of the Lalgarh movement is changing. The movement started last year by hundreds of villagers in this tribal,farm belt of West Midnapore - and which later spread to the neighbouring Bankura and Purulia districts - is no longer confined to just putting up barricades to stop the police from entering their areas and defying the administration. It is now also about development. With little interest being shown by the administration,the villagers under the People's Committee Against Police Atrocity (PCPA) - the local organisation spearheading the agitation - have started working to improve the irrigation facilities and roads. They have even set up health centres and schools. The PCPA was born late last year following alleged large-scale police atrocities on villagers in the aftermath of a landmine blast that targeted Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's convoy in nearby Kalaichandi,suspected to be a work of Maoists. Having mobilised the villagers to prevent the police from entering the villages in Lalgarh again and boycott the administrative machinery,the PCPA has collected Rs 40 lakh - its budget for developmental work it says. Among these initiatives,stress is being given on irrigation projects like construction of embankments and digging ponds,construction of roads and setting up health centres. In certain pockets,groups of villagers are trying to turn barren or single crop areas into fertile,multi-crop land by introducing proper irrigation. Work is going on in villages like Dharampur,Kumarbandh,Banshber,Dargapara,Junglekhand in Ramgarh and Lalgarh blocks. The PCPA,currently,is constructing roads in three areas. A 4.5-km stretch is being laid in Sizua in Lalgarh block,and another 8-km road is being constructed from Birkar to Patisol. A 1.5-km stretch from Dharampur to Sargapara is also being laid. It is also putting up tube wells in several villages of Lalgarh and Katapahari,a Maoist-dominated area. In Baropelia,where many innocent villagers were allegedly assaulted after the police crackdown there,the PCPA has dug a large pond for irrigation. Two health centres have been set up at Katapahari in Lalgarh and at Chakkadoba in Belpahari. According to PCPA leaders,they are arranging medicines to run one more health centre in Kalaimuri near Salboni. Another health centre is being run Ranibandh in Bankura. The organisation has set up three embankments by engaging villagers in Baro Pelia in Lalgarh and Girulia in Salboni. "We are constructing roads in villages in Lalgarh block where there was no connectivity. We are also emphasising on irrigation projects," said Chatradhar Mahato of the PCPA. "We have constructed embankment and planned to set up sluice gates in the Madhupur canal so that water can be stored there and used for irrigation purposes during droughts. We have installed shallow pumps in places where we cannot dig ponds," he added. The PCPA has started teaching Alchiki in six schools of Lalgarh and Ramgarh,ignoring the norms of the state education department. When asked about the funds,Mahato said the budget of PCPA depends on donations and help of the people. "We have been collecting money from the villagers for a long time for these works. We receive big donations from Lalgarh Andolan Sanhati Mancha in Kolkata. We don't need to hire labourers as the villagers work voluntarily," Mahato said. Sujato Bhadra of Lalgarh Andolan Sanhati Mancha (LASM),a group of intellectuals from Kolkata working closely with the PCPA,said his organisation has been able to mobilise around Rs 15 lakh from the city. "We receive donations from several NRIs and intellectuals. We are also trying to rope in some NGOs in these projects," said Bhadra. Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen said the government has reports on the projects taken up by the PCPA. "If they are doing developmental works on their own,what is wrong in that?" asked Sen. However,the district administration is clueless over the fund mobilisation. "The PCPA is working on the same projects that were stopped by its resistance. We do not know from where they have gathered the funds. But we have reports that they threatened people from every strata of society," said Sourav Barik,Block Development Officer of Lalgarh.
