ARMORI, February 23: The State Government has been meting out injustice to members of 40 castes including Mana, Gowari and Padmashali belonging to special backward category, alleged Suresh Padmashali, president of the Vidarbha Padmashali Mahasabha.Padmashali has in a statement further said that the State Government dropped 40 castes including Gowari, Mana, Samlewar, Munnerwar, Koshti and Padmashali from the list of other backward classes and included those under special backward category.
The government also announced two per cent reservation in education and jobs for the special backward category in 1995, he said. Unfortunately, government's reservation policy concerning seats in medical and engineering colleges was challenged in the high court in the same year and the high court granted stay on implementation of the policy. As a result, members of 40 castes were deprived off the benefits of two per cent reservation, Padmashali alleged.
Padmashali further alleged that the government did not even makeefforts to vacate the stay till date. Consequently, about 400 students belonging to the 40 castes have lost the opportunity of becoming doctors or engineers, he lamented. Now the State Government has been implementing the policy of withdrawing the concession on the pretext that the matter is subjudiced, he alleged.
Some leaders of Mana and Gowari castes were also behind the withdrawal of concession, earlier given to the members of 40 castes belonging to special backward category, Padmashali alleged.
The people voted in favour of BJP-Shiv Sena alliance in the last assembly poll because of the killing of 114 Gowaris at Nagpur during the Congress regime and with a hope that the alliance will solve the issue of other backward category on war footings, Padmashali said. However, the alliance government kept the issue pending by deliberately turning a Nelson's eye towards it, he said. Although, the BJP-Sena combine dreams of cashing the Gowari-Mana vote bank in the poll, these communities are going to teach alesson to the government this time, Padmashali added.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
