Jaipur: Leaders from the SC and ST communities in Rajasthan on Sunday expressed displeasure with the state and central governments over several issues, including reservation in promotion in jobs and withdrawal of cases registered during Bharat Bandh in 2018. A mahapanchayat of the two communities was organised at Mansarovar here by the Ambedkar Memorial Welfare Society.
Convenor of the mahapanchayat, B L Arya said the increase in reservation is not proportional to the rise in population and accused the SC/ST leaders in the government of not raising the demands of the community "strongly". Arya also hit out at the bureaucracy, saying it does not allow the issue of reservation to get addressed by raising objections. "The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes will fight for their rights through the Mahapanchayat," he said.
Arya said politicians say several things before polls but their mouths get shut after being elected to Vidhan Sabha and Lok Sabha. "If you (the leaders) cannot speak, then you should resign," he said. There are 56 SC and ST MLAs in the state Assembly but barring one or two, no one speaks about the issues of the communities.
Addressing the event, former Rajasthan Police chief and Congress MLA Harish Meena said the SC and ST communities are raising demand for reservation on the basis of increasing population and withdrawal of cases registered during Bharat Bandh. Jat Mahasabha convenor Rajaram Meel, Ministers in the Rajasthan government Mamta Bhupesh and Tikaram Julie along with Congress MLA Gangadevi, Prashant Bairwa and several former bureaucrats participated in the mahapanchayat.
Dalit groups had called for a Bharat Bandh on April 2, 2018, in protest against a Supreme Court order which, they claimed, had diluted some stringent provisions of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. Protesters had turned violent at several places, which resulted in the death of at least 11 people and the destruction of property across the country. (PTI)
