Tribal students stage a protest in Nagpur on Tuesday
He said students from across Maharashtra had been on hunger strike for more than 10 days and urged CM to meet their representatives and resolve their grievances immediately. He said govt has raised the age limit for hostel intake to 30 years in response to students’ demands.
In a post on X, he said the tribal students from Nagpur and Pune had withdrawn their hunger strike before Gandhi’s visit. “Rahulji, you always arrive late!” he wrote, accusing Gandhi of holding a “paid PR programme”. In his letter, Gandhi said many tribal students from remote villages depend on govt hostels to pursue higher education in cities. “I was shocked to learn that female students returning after an extended absence must undergo pregnancy tests and a range of other medical tests, to prove their ‘fitness’,” Gandhi said in the letter, describing the alleged practice as “an attack on their dignity and their humanity. We will make sure that all the complaints are thoroughly investigated and anyone found guilty will be dealt with the strictest action,” he said.
The protests are underway in Nagpur and Pune. Tribal Development minister Ashok Uike hit back, accusing Gandhi of arriving late to the issue and alleging that Congress functionaries had failed to brief him about developments. Uike, however, disputed Gandhi’s account. The minister further sought to turn the criticism back on Congress, referring to complaints from tribal residential schools and alleging that some facilities were associated with former Congress functionaries. “Several hostels are run by Congress people, from where complaints have been received.
Nagpur: A fresh political confrontation erupted in Maharashtra on Tuesday after Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi wrote to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis seeking his intervention in the grievances of tribal students protesting over hostel rules and facilities. Gandhi wrote to Fadnavis on Monday after meeting tribal students during his ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ interaction in Pune.