While the budget 2015-16 threatens to keep schools and universities out of reach of most Dalit-bahujans through fewer scholarships and shrunk Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and Mid-Day Meal Scheme, the Land Acquisition Bill 2015 promises real estate developers and mining giants unfettered powers for stripping them of their livelihoods. Last month, Dalit-bahujans took to the streets protesting against these attempts of the Narendra Modi government to push them further to the margins of society.
![A public meeting was held at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, on 12 March to protest against unfair budgetary allocations in education. Activists Bina Pallical (top left) and Abhay Xaxa and N. Paul Diwaker (right below) were arrested when they sought to meet Smriti Irani, the union HRD minister (Photos courtesy of NCDHR)](https://www.forwardpress.in/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/photo-300x225.jpg)
![Nothing less than the withdrawal of the Land Acquisition Bill is acceptable, say the 20,000 Adivasis who attended a rally at Kansabel in Chhattisgarh’s Jashpur district on 15 March](https://www.forwardpress.in/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/jashpur1-300x200.jpg)
![The United Forum Against Displacement organized a rally on 15 March in Kolhan (midway from Tetla to Hata). The Tribals in attendance shouted, “Foodgrains and farming, not iron ore”](https://www.forwardpress.in/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/kolhan-300x225.jpg)
![On 17 March, members of the Jai Adivasi Yuva Shakti (Jays) took part in a massive demonstration against the Land Acquisition Bill at Kukshi in Madhya Pradesh’s Dhar district](https://www.forwardpress.in/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/jays-kukshi-300x169.jpg)
Published in the April 2015 issue of the Forward Press magazine
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