Gadchiroli Oct. 26 (District Correspondent) Ramdas Zarate, the leader of the Peasants and Workers’ Party, (PWP) has criticized the state government’s decision of excluding 286 villages from the PESA list.
Addressing a press conference in his office here this afternoon, Mr. Jarate said that Gadchiroli MLA Dr. Devrao Holi’s claim about exclusion of these villages is totally misleading and a design of creating disputes between the tribals and non-tribals.
Refuting the claim made by Dr. Devrao Holi, Jarate said that the Fifth Schedule came into existence as per Article 244(1) of the Constitution of India and as per Article 4(2) of Part B of the Fifth Schedule, the Tribal Advisory Council can advise on matters related to the welfare and upliftment of the tribals only if directed by the Governor. The power to exclude or add villages from Scheduled Areas rests only with the President of India and neither the President nor the Governor has yet issued any order in this regard. Therefore, the claim of Holi is only an attempt of Bharatiya Janata Party to garner the votes of OBCs keeping in view the upcoming elections, he alleged.
Since Gadchiroli district and many villages in the district are included in the scheduled areas, the district has been able to get crores of rupees funds till date. After several decades of independence, roads, bridges and other facilities could be built in remote areas. The funds given to the major institutes like Gondwana University, women’s hospital, agricultural college, Chichdoh Barrage, Kotgal Barrage etc. are from the Tribal Sub Plan, he pointed out. However, some people are defaming the law without reading it, Jarate said.
The Governor issued a notification on June 9 regarding the recruitment, citing vacancies in scheduled areas, low attendance of employees in the office, lack of interest in work by employees, lack of knowledge of local dialects among employees. Jarate accused that ruling BJP has been using this notification for vote politics and making fools of the OBCs.
Also present at the press conference were Ms. Jayashree Welda, women’s chief, Mr. Akshay Kosankar, youth chief, Tukaram Gedam, Raj Bansod of BRSP, Vinod Madavi of Adiwasi Yuwa Parishad, Jagdish Madavi, Santosh Vadde, Mukesh Potavi, Ganesh Mattami of Gram Sabha Keligatta, Nathu Usendi and others.
Photo Mr. Ramdas Jarate addressing the press conference as others are seated.
