Any party coming to power in Tamil Nadu should form an authority to retrieve panchami land and improve farm productivity, said the Madurai Ecumenical Theological Fellowship on Saturday.
Addressing a press conference here, M. Gnanavaram, Principal, Tamil Nadu Theological Seminary, a constituent of the fellowship, said that they would not support any political outfit but ask Christians of all denominations to vote for the party in which they had faith of conceding their charter of demands.
The demands of the fellowship include prevention of acquisition of farm land for special economic zones; elimination of child labour and provision of employment to parents of former child workers; creation of job opportunities locally to prevent migration of people to urban areas and formation of a State Commission for Child Rights.
Dr. Gnanavaram said that their objective was not to ask Christians to vote for a particular party.
But the demands had been circulated to all churches and church-run institutions in the composite Madurai and Ramnad, which consists of six districts.
He wanted the political parties to take steps for extending Scheduled Caste status to Dalit Christians as recommended by the Ranganath Misra Commission.
Nuclear reactors that created natural disasters should be dismantled, the fellowship said and called for the closure of factories, shrimp farms and resorts that affected the livelihood of fishermen in coastal areas.
The fellowship urged the voters not to choose their candidates on the basis of narrow caste and communal lines. Exercising one's franchise was a democratic right and it should be done without fear or favour and by not accepting any inducements, including money.
They should vote for those parties which would ensure a rule devoid of corruption, injustice, violence or interference in the functioning of democratic institutions.
The Madurai Ecumenical Theological Fellowship has as its constituents the Tamil Nadu Theological Seminary; Commission for Ecumenism, Madurai Archdiocese; Commission for Ecumenism, Congregation of Immaculate Conception; Church Growth Ministry Movement, Goodnews Education Team India and Lamb Institute for Field Evangelism.
