Tripura: Senior CPIM MLA and leader of the party's Scheduled Caste wing in Tripura has criticized the Bharatiya Janata Party government for 'neglecting' the community in the state.
Sudhan Das said for the first time in the history of the state, no representative from the SC community has been inducted in the state cabinet.
"Where shall we go? Despite so many elected MLAs, there is no Minister from the SC community in the state council of ministers. This for the first time in history. People of our community are left in the lurch, neglected and helpless", Das said.
A delegation of CPIM's SC wing met a deputation at the directorate of the SC welfare department with a host of demands. The party leaders handed an eleven-point charter of demands to the state Director of the department.
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"We have submitted eleven demands highlighting the plight of people such as laundry workers, instrument players, sweepers, fish traders and those in the unorganised sectors. They are the worst sufferers of the pandemic and the restrictions induced by it", he said.
"Our demands are simple, we want Rs 7,500 for each of the families that are exempted from the tax-net along with 10 Kg of rice per head.
This help will not only bring them out of the acute financial shortage but will also enhance the flow of cash in markets", he told reporters.
Das also demanded a hike in wages for sweepers, Rs 1 lakh loan against MGNREGA job card, appointments in vacant posts and reservation of one parliamentary constituency for an SC candidate.
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According to the last census, Schedule Caste members make up 17 percent of the total population of the state.
