Maharashtra’s mathadis to protest outside Mantralaya on Tuesday

Mathadis (head loaders) will protest outside Mantralaya on Tuesday against the state government’s plan to make changes in the Mathadi Act.

The mathadis are opposed to the government’s plan to replace 36 Mathadi mandals in the state with one Mathadi Maha Mandal.

MLA Narendra Patil, general secretary of the Mathadi union, said: “The state government has hatched a conspiracy to make changes in the Mathadi Act. The existence of the Mathadi board that protects the mathadis’ interest is at stake.”

He said, “The Act came into being after a long and hard struggle of the mathadis for which they have shed their blood. We will ensure that the Act stays.”

Patil said that the state government has issued three notifications in February and September 2016 and January 2018. “The orders have harmed the interest of the workers. We want all the three notifications to be withdrawn and demands of mathadis for security and better working conditions to be met,” Patil said.

MLA Shashikant Shinde, working president of the union, said that they have been protesting for the last three years. “The state will witness the biggest rally of the labour class on Tuesday when mathadis from all over the state along with their families will stand together in protest,” said Shinde.