Maharashtra govt accepts tribal students’ demands, urges end to hunger strike

The Maharashtra government has accepted the demands of tribal student protesters who have been on hunger strike in Pune Nagpur and Nashik Tribal Development Minister Ashok Uike said on SaturdayThe protest was launched following the deaths of three tribal girls from snakebite at a residential school in Gadchiroli district The agitation is expected to be called off later on Saturday after the government assured the students of a timebound plan to address their concernsGovt agrees to address ST recruitment demandsUike said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis met delegations of the protesting students and agreed to their demands concerning recruitment of Scheduled Tribes candidates in government servicesOne of the key demands was to place Scheduled Tribes in the second position in the point roster as per the relevant government resolution Uike said a committee has already been formed and its recommendations are expected within three months after which the government will take further actionThe government also discussed recruitment in PESA and nonPESA areas Of the 17 cadres covered under the Panchayats Extension to Scheduled Areas Act recruitment has already been completed for nine while directions have been issued to begin recruitment for the remaining cadres immediatelySupernumerary posts residential schoolsThe issue of creating supernumerary posts for ST candidates was also discussed in light of the Supreme Courtrsquos July 6 2017 judgment The government will determine the number of such posts within three months and complete the process within six months the minister saidThe government has further directed thirdparty audits of aided and governmentrun tribal residential schools to identify deficiencies and ensure prompt corrective actionStudent representatives said their main demand was recruitment to 12500 posts and that the government had agreed to provide a concrete timeline They said the chief minister assured them that vacant posts would be identified within three monthsAction promised over caste validity certificatesThe protesters also raised concerns about candidates who secured government jobs without submitting caste validity certificates within the stipulated period They claimed some candidates appointed in 2018 2019 and 2020 continued in service despite failing to submit the certificates within six monthsAccording to the student representatives the chief minister assured them that action would begin from Sunday including removal from service wherever applicableThe government also cancelled the direct benefit transfer DBT scheme on Saturday they saidCentral kitchen issue under reviewOn the central kitchen system the students said a committee had been appointed and its report was expected within 15 days to one month The chief minister will take a final decision after receiving the reportUike appealed to the protesting students to withdraw their hunger strike and return to their studies He said another meeting would be held after three months to review the implementation of the decisions and address any difficultiesStudents acknowledge political supportThe student representatives expressed satisfaction with the outcome saying they had received a timebound programme for addressing their demandsThey thanked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi NCP SP leader Rohit Pawar state Congress leader Yashomati Thakur and NSUI for supporting their agitation and helping draw media attention to their concernsEarlier on Saturday the Bombay High Court directed the state government to ensure the wellbeing of the students on hunger strike A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad said it did not want any more young lives to be lostWith inputs from PTI