December 14, 1974 police had made sure of this. As Nayar set out to meet the Home Minister, he was encircled by the police who bundled him into a Black Maria and forcibly removed him to a place half a mile away from the area that the Minister was to visit. Nayar's wife was threatened with similar action when she tried to intervene. The police also formed a cordon to prevent any worker or workers' representative from being present during the Home Minister's visit. Brah- mananda Reddi was thus greeted by the local Gujar gentry, who hastened to tell him how much they had done to give relief to the workers! The Home Minister soon got back into his car and drove away. The Deputy Commissioner announced an ex gratia payment of Rs 250 for each of the 25 'affected' families and a compensation of Rs 500 per dead child. He also asked for blankets to be distributed to the workers rendered homeless. Relief for the other workers, he said, was a separate issue, and he would deal with that directly whenever the workers came to see him. The khadi-clad Pradhans and local Congressmen looked satisfied with the whole show.
