Two days after the Maharashtra state cabinet discussed the increasing number of atrocities against Dalits in the state, the Nationalist Congress Party president and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Friday asked the state government to deal this issue with utmost seriousness.
“The increasing acts of violence against Dalits need to be taken seriously by the government. I will speak with R.R. Patil (state home minister) on this issue and ask him to take stern action to curb on the instances,” said Mr. Pawar, in Satara.
He added that a meeting of high-ranking IPS officers should be called to discuss the issue immediately.
Despite the state government’s plan to initiate a scheme across the state to curb on atrocities against Dalits, the opposition hit the streets on Friday, across the state. The Republican Party of India (RPI) led by Rajya Sabha MP Ramdas Athawale held rasta roko in Mumbai and various other parts of the state.
“The government has failed to provide protection to Dalits in the state. The implementation of the atrocity prevention act is abysmal, which shows that the government is unwilling to curb violence against Dalits,” said Mr. Athawale.
Meanwhile, various organisations across the state have taken up the issue. ‘A long march- for equality’ has been organised from May 22 to 28, by the Dalit Adivasi Adhikar Andolan. The long march will start from Pune and will conclude at Kharda, a village where a Dalit boy was killed by upper caste Maratha men on April 28.
