Mumbai: The security at Maharashtra’s Mantralaya on Friday got into a tizzy after the deputy Speaker of the Assembly and three other legislator jumped on the safety net, which was installed to prevent suicides. Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal and three tribal legislators were protesting against the inclusion of the Dhangar community in the Scheduled Tribes category. Following the incident, Maharashtra minister Girish Mahajan took the MLAs to chief minister Eknath Shinde to discuss their issues. Earlier in the day, some tribal MLAs held a protest in the Mantralaya complex during a cabinet meeting..
The police personnel, who were deployed on the second floor of Mantralaya, got the tribal leaders safely out from the safety mesh. The legislators and leaders have also been demanding to start the recruitment at tribal areas under PESA (The Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension of Scheduled Area).
Earlier, the tribal leaders tried to meet the Chief Minister at Mantralaya with the charter of demands. Since the cabinet meeting was going on, they did not get time from the chief minister resulting in a protest at the second floor of Mantralaya and subsequently, they jumped on the safety mess, an official said.
The tribal leaders included NCP legislator Kiran Lahamte (Akole), Congress MLA Hiraman Khoskar (Igatpuri), BJP MP Dr Hemant Savara (Palghar), Bahujan Vikas Aghadi MLA Rajesh Patil (Boisar) among others.
BJP leader and former MP Rajendra Gavit, who joined the protest, told this newspaper that they were demanding to fill the 12,500 posts, which were occupied by the people through false tribal certificates. “The chief minister has assured us that the vacant posts will be filled soon,” Mr. Gavit added.
At present, the Dhangar community, which is a shepherd community, in the state is in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category. They are demanding inclusion in the ST category for the purpose of reservation. The tribal leaders are protesting against this demand. According to the Dhangar community, the community is the same as the Dhangads which are listed as Scheduled Tribes in several states.
When asked why he resorted to such a protest, Mr. Zirwal said that he is an adivasi first and then an MLA and a deputy speaker.
A senior police officer said that the incident took place around 12.30 pm. “We have got the protesting leaders from the mesh and ensured that they should not again jump,” he said.
The senior police officer said that if the public representative has to resort to such a stunt to seek the attention of the government, what can we expect from the common people. “We are surprised that lawmakers are doing such things,” he said.
This is the second incident in the last ten days, when the security of Mantralaya was breached. Last week, a woman, namely Dhanashree Sahasrabuddhe, entered the Mantralaya without a valid entry pass and smashed the nameplate of Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on the sixth floor of Mantralaya. The police authorities have suspended a head constable held responsible for breach of security in Mantralaya.
