Singing for their supper Tribal students use songs slogans to protest DBT for food

  • | Thursday | 19th July, 2018

Students said the DBT system for tribal students should be cancelled.Madan Patne, student leader from Pune who led the delegation, told TOI the DBT for food should be cancelled immediately. Nashik: Over 1,000 tribal students and activists from various parts of the state laid siege to the Adivasi Vikas Bhavan, the headquarters of the state tribal development commissionerate, to protest the state government decision to stop in-house mess facilities at tribal hostels. “This decision of the state government will completely destroy the tribal hostel system, the backbone for higher education for the tribal population. Students raised slogans, sang traditional tribal songs to the accompaniment of their own instruments and built up a spirit of bonhomie at the Commissionerate. My office has feedback from the students who support this scheme,” Kulkarni said.

Nashik: Over 1,000 tribal students and activists from various parts of the state laid siege to the Adivasi Vikas Bhavan, the headquarters of the state tribal development commissionerate, to protest the state government decision to stop in-house mess facilities at tribal hostels. Many sang songs to the accompaniment of traditional instruments as they sat in protest for several hours.The government, after repeated complaints about the quality of food served at these hostels, has decided to stop providing students cooked food in hostels and instead offer them cash through Direct Benefit Transfer so they can buy their own food. However, students protest that the Rs3,500 per month offered to students in municipal corporation areas and Rs3,000 per month in non-municipal corporation areas will not suffice, and many hostels are not located within easy reach of hotels that provide food cheap.After rounds of discussion with in-charge Tribal Development Commissioner Kiran Kulkarni and senior officials, student representatives spoke over phone with the state tribal development minister Vishnu Savra, who said he would meet a delegation of students at Nagpur on July 20.Students who had gathered at the premises of the Commissionerate at 11 am finally left the premises after 7 pm. The prime demand of the students was to cancel the government resolution that allows tribal hostels to stop the in-house mess service.Students also raised the issue of delay in disbursal of scholarships and allowances under the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) schemes. Students said the DBT system for tribal students should be cancelled.Madan Patne, student leader from Pune who led the delegation, told TOI the DBT for food should be cancelled immediately. “This decision of the state government will completely destroy the tribal hostel system, the backbone for higher education for the tribal population. Firstly, Rs 3,000 per month is not enough for one student to have healthy meal for the whole month. It is not possible to get balanced and nutritious meals for just Rs100 a day,” he said, adding that government must not shirk its responsibility to the poor and marginalized.Tribal students under the banner of ‘All Maharashtra Government Tribal Youth Hostel Residents Association’ started a foot march from Pune to Nashik on July 13; however, on Monday evening, police detained the marchers at Sinnar on their way to Nashik and sent them back, saying the protest by diary farmers too would endanger the law and order situation.On Wednesday morning, tribal students gathered in large numbers to protest the “suppression” of their earlier protest march. Students raised slogans, sang traditional tribal songs to the accompaniment of their own instruments and built up a spirit of bonhomie at the Commissionerate. Finally, they were called for a meeting with the Commissioner.Tribal Development Commissioner Kiran Kulkarni told TOI he tried to convince the students that their demand could not be met at his level. “Cancelling a government resolution is not in my jurisdiction. The cabinet minister and department secretary will have to take a call. The minister and secretary have now decided to meet the students,” he said.Meanwhile, in-charge Tribal Commissioner of Maharashtra Kiran Kulkarni told reporters that the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) in place of the mess facility is not mandatory. This is a pilot project to be implemented on trial basis, he said.“As per the government decision, students may continue the existing mess system if they wish to do so. Moreover, for the year 2018-19, DBT will be offered only in 120 of 495 hostels of the tribal department,” Kulkarni said.Initially, the system will be introduced in the government hostels in urban areas where students have to travel long distance to reach the college from the hostel. Nashik is one of the cities where this system will be introduced on pilot basis.“During the session 2018-19, the government will review the programme and decide whether to continue DBT for food or not. Initially, several student organizations welcomed this change. My office has feedback from the students who support this scheme,” Kulkarni said.

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