Ranchi, March 23: A new national forum has been formed today to fight the development model that leads to large-scale displacement of workers for the benefit of the multinationals and domestic business houses.

The decision to form Visthapan Virodhi Jan Vikas Andolan (Peoples' Development Movement against Displacement) was taken after a two-day marathon brainstorming at Patel Bhavan, in the city today.

Nearly 500 representatives from 100-odd organisations across the country took part in the deliberations.

A rally was also organised today to highlight the need for the people to join hands to oppose displacement.

The new outfit has a nine-member steering committee headed by president of Bharat Jan Andolan B.D. Sharma. The other eight members are drawn from outfits active in Bengal, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh. There is also a central council with 50 members.

Some of the immediate protest programmes include a Bharat Bandh some time in October, two-day demonstration near Parliament and three public rallies at Orissa, Chattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh.

Intellectuals, artists and writers in large numbers would take part in the demonstration programme at New Delhi.

In the four-page Ranchi declaration, the forum has resolved to oppose the present model of development.

"We demand to reject the MoUs that different governments have signed. We also demand scrapping of special economic zones as it would lead to displacement of rural population," said the senior member of the preparatory committee that drafted Ranchi Declaration, G.N. Saibaba.

The forum suggested an alternative model for the development that would be people- oriented and for the masses. All development projects should have the consent of the local people and there should be no loot of natural wealth. Resources, they added, should be extracted to the extent that it serves the needs of the people.

"The new organisation will give more teeth to the various ongoing movements against displacements. We don't want capitalists to decide the manner of development in the country. It would increase the disparities between haves and have-nots," Sharma added        The Telegraph