PM deputes minister to talk to fasting Ganga activist

NEW DELHI: In damage control mode, the prime minister on Tuesday sent Union coal minister Sriprakash Jaiswal to placate the fasting G D Agrawal, a retired professor of IIT Kanpur who recently ‘embraced sanyas’ and took the name ‘Swami Gyan Swarup Sanand’.

Agrawal has been on fast since January 14 at Varanasi protesting against the continued pollution of Ganga. Three members of the PM-chaired National Ganga River Basin Authority -- Magsaysay award winner Rajendra Singh, Ravi Chopra and R H Siddiqi -- had resigned on March 10 forcing the government to pay attention to the 79-year old Agrawal’s plight and demands.

Jaiswal was rushed to Varanasi after a meeting held by the PM with finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan besides others to address the issue on Monday.

Sources said Rajendra Singh has accompanied Jaiswal and the intention is to find out Agrawal’s demands.

This is neither the first time Agrawal has resorted to fasting to bring attention to issues about the Ganga nor is it the first time that the UPA has put forth a team headed by a minister to placate him. Earlier, in August 2010, Agrawal had gone on fast to demand continuous flow of water in the tributaries of Ganga in Uttarakhand, forcing Mukherjee to send a personal missive to him requesting him to end the fast and accepting some of his demands.