Maharashtra: Ajit Pawar questions job reservation for govindas

NAGPUR: Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar criticised the Shinde government for its announcement regarding job reservation for govindas, saying such decisions have to be made with a practical point of view. Taking a swipe at chief minister (CM) Eknath Shinde, he said, “Emotional decisions can’t be taken after becoming CM. You have to look at the pros and cons of such decisions.”
On August 18, CM Shinde announced that dahi handi will be recognized as a sport in Maharashtra, thus allowing participating govindas to seek jobs under the sports quota.
Pawar said that Shinde should have consulted deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis. “He was CM for five years and has experience in these matters. But Shinde did not consult anyone. Neither the sports department nor any other stakeholder was taken into confidence,” Pawar said.
The Leader of Opposition added, “It came into his (Shinde’s) mind and the announcement was made. This is not done. We are a democracy and for everything, we need to take into account how this will affect the 13 crore citizens of Maharashtra.”
Pawar added that though no decision can find support from all citizens, still “we have to ensure that our policies do not have unwanted repercussions.”
Regarding the categorization of dahi handi as a sport, Pawar said that is a process in itself. “For sports, competitions are held at the district level and then state level,” he said, pointing out that dahi handi does not have that system.
“I can understand the insurance part, wherein you give compensation to govindas who are injured or die. But here we don’t have any official records (like in other sports) and no background on the educational qualifications, and yet you went ahead to declare 5% reservation for govindas,” said Pawar.
He added that this is not fair to those who have been preparing for competitive exams to secure jobs. “What will you do if a govinda excels with medals in dahi handi but does not have a good education. What job will you give them then,” asked Pawar.
The leader of Opposition arrived in Nagpur on Saturday morning, en route to Amravati for an official tour. “I will be visiting Melghat and Dharni in Amravati district to see what the situation is regarding child malnutrition and child mortality rates. Based on my ground visit, questions can be put up before the government during the assembly session,” said Pawar.
Later, addressing a press conference at Dharni after his day long tour of the tribal belt, Pawar rued that even after 75 years of independence mothers in Melghat were struggling to get a good nutritious diet.
“This is a very disheartening state,” he remarked and held successive governments responsible for the situation clarifying at the same time that he would not involve politics in it.
Pawar visited village Didamba and called on the families of malnutrition-hit children. He also visited primary health centre at Kalamkhar before holding talks with the representatives of various NGOs working in Melghat at Dharni.
“The issue of mother health is serious in Melghat. Many mothers have to work during the pregnancy period to light the stove at home. Their health problems go up at that time. They deliver low weight babies who suffer from malnutrition and sometimes die of it,” Pawar told media persons.
He demanded that government should provide free diet to expecting mothers for three months before and after the pregnancy on lines it grants three months leave before and after pregnancy to women in government service.
Early marriages, superstitions that prevent them from going to hospital, inadequacy of nutritious diet were some of the problems he listed for poor health of melghat tribals in general and kids and mothers in particular.
He called for joint efforts by government, NGOs and opposition to address the problem.
Pointing out that there was a paucity of employment in Melghat, Pawar also mentioned that many were yet to get gharkuls and ration cards.He assured to make efforts to solve these issues.
“Hearing is going on on the issue of malnutrition in court and government should abide by its directives,” he said.