Background
Rajagopal was born 1948 as fourth of five children in Thillenkery, a village in Kerala, south India.
activist president of Ekta Parishad
Rajagopal was born 1948 as fourth of five children in Thillenkery, a village in Kerala, south India.
Rajagopal attended the grade school at Seva Mandir, being tought in Malayalam language. He later studied classical Indian dance and music, prior to completing his education at Sevagram, Gandhi"s Ashram in Maharashtra, with a degree in agricultural engineering.
His full name is Rajagopal Puthan Veetil, but he now choses to use only his first name in public in order to avoid any caste related stereotyping that might be associated with his full name. Rajagopal"s father was an activist fighting for India"s independence and therefore was frequently separated from his family. The school followed Gandhi"s philosophical principles with regard to life and work in a community.
This is also where Rajagopal learned to speak English.
In the early 70s he worked in the violence-ridden area of Chambal in Madhya Pradesh to help rehabilitate dacoits. Since 1993, Rajagopal is married to Jill Carr-Harris, a Canadian national, who is also an activist in social change.
After consolidating a membership of 200,000 people (majority women) across six states, Rajagopal began using the Gandhian technique of foot-march or padayatra to galvanize greater support among the poor. With a track record of 10 state level foot-marches, he led a national march to Delhi in October 2007.
In the march, 25,000 people marched 340 kilometers from Gwalior to Delhi and compelled the Government to take action and land reforms and forest rights.
Though the Land Reform Commission has issued its report, the government has not yet accepted lieutenant In the context of the continuing growth of Naxalism in Central rural India, Rajagopal"s organization of Ekta Parishad with its mobilization of tribal peoples, women and youth as well as its advocacy of Land Reform, is one of the most successful nonviolent alternatives. Modi government after coming into action has proposed two major changes into land acquisiton act:-
1.It seek to dilute provisions such as the mandatory consent of 70 percent of those affected in case of public-private partnership (PPP) projects.
2.It remove the provision of mandatory requirement for a time-bound Social Impact Assessment for land acquisitions.
Rajagopal accuses Modi as a pro-corporate and claims the it will further aggravates the difference between the rich and poor in the country. Several films have been made of Rajagopal"s work and the effort to establish and international solidarity of the poor around land reform issues:.