NEW DELHI (AFP) -- Thousands of poor farmers, landless workers and indigenous people reached the Indian capital after a month-long protest march to highlight the plight of those marginalized by India's economic boom.

Men, women and even some children from India's neglected hinterlands walked in orderly lines waving green and white flags or carrying photographs of freedom icon and revered ""untouchable"" leader Bhimarao Ramji Ambedkar.
Their demands -- the right to land and the water -- compete with India's aims of turning rural land into industrial zones and attracting foreign investment to maintain its scorching growth of more than nine percent.
For millions like the estimated 25,000 marchers who began their 600-kilometer (370-mile) journey from the central city of Gwalior on Gandhi's birthday on October 2, India's ""economic miracle"" is meaningless.
""Forty percent of Indians are now landless and 23 percent of them are in abject poverty,"" march organizer Puthan Vithal Rajgopal, who heads a group called Ekta Parishad, or Unity Forum, told AFP.
""Such conditions have bred Maoist insurgency in 172 of India's 600 districts and farmers are killing themselves in 100 other districts. So we want to ask the government, 'Where are the fruits of the reforms in these districts?'""
The marchers want India to introduce iron-clad legislation on holdings, deeds and tenancy rights -- replacing the current system where ownership can easily be taken by the rich and powerful.
Many have lost land because of the absence of property deeds among people who have long lived on their traditional lands, including indigenous groups in forest areas, or because of corruption.
One farmer said a local official issued a deed putting part of his land in another's name after being bribed.
""We filed reports, attended courts but nothing happened,"" said Santok Devi. ""And some 39 bighas (around an acre) are stuck in the controversy.""
A government plan to set up tax-friendly special economic zones across thousands of acres (hectares) of farmland in a bid to lure overseas corporations has also led to sometime violent protests over displacement in at least two states.
On Monday, the protesters will march to India's federal parliament to press for the setting up of a single land authority and fast-track courts for land disputes.
In spite of their deep-seated anger, marchers kept their spirits up by singing inspirational songs and dancing as they headed to the old part of the capital to camp for the night.