Social activist and Jai Kisan Sangathan leader Amit Bhatnagar has suspended his 18-day indefinite hunger strike after the Madhya Pradesh government agreed to conduct fresh village-level surveys to identify families allegedly left out of compensation and rehabilitation under the Ken-Betwa Link Project.
The decision is being seen by protesters as the first major breakthrough in the ongoing agitation over the rehabilitation of project-affected families.
Bhatnagar ended his fast in the intensive care unit (ICU) of Chhatarpur District Hospital by accepting coconut water from his mother and local tribal women. He had continued his fast even after being shifted to hospital following a police crackdown on July 19, when authorities cleared the protest site at Kupi village in Chhatarpur district, citing rising water levels in the Barana River and concerns over his deteriorating health.
The state administration has assured protesters that fresh, transparent village-by-village surveys will be conducted to identify families excluded from compensation, rehabilitation benefits and land acquisition records. Joint verification teams, comprising government officials and representatives of the Jai Kisan Sangathan, will oversee the exercise to ensure no eligible family is left out, according to The Indian Express .
Despite ending his hunger strike, Bhatnagar said the movement would continue until every displaced family receives fair compensation, rehabilitation and statutory rights. He announced that the agitation would now enter a new phase called the "Nyay Satyagraha", under which he plans to travel from village to village to monitor the verification process while continuing to abstain from food grains. Bhatnagar added, "I have not abandoned the fast. I have changed its form. Until the last eligible person receives justice, I will not eat food or roti."
Protesters allege that hundreds of families affected by the proposed Daudhan Dam under the Rs 44,605-crore Ken-Betwa Link Project were omitted from official rehabilitation lists due to flawed surveys, manipulated Gram Sabha records and irregularities in compensation assessments.
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India's first river-interlinking initiative, the Ken-Betwa Link Project, will transfer water from the Ken basin in Madhya Pradesh to the Betwa basin in Uttar Pradesh. The infrastructure features the Daudhan Dam across the Ken River, a 221-km connecting canal and supporting irrigation networks.
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