NCST sends another notice to chief secy over invalidating admissions of ST students

NCST issues a second notice to Maharashtra's chief secretary on the invalidation of 200+ tribal students' ITI admissions over alleged religious conversions.

Mumbai: The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) has issued another notice to the Maharashtra chief secretary Sujata Saunik, seeking information on the state’s intent to invalidate admissions of more than 200 tribal students to Industrial Training Institutes (ITI), over them allegedly availing reservation benefits by converting to other religions like Islam and Christianity. The notice follows a complaint filed by Samajwadi Party MLA Rais Shaikh.

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The purpose of NCST, a constitutional body, is to ensure the welfare and empowerment of Scheduled Tribes (STs) and to protect their social, economic, educational, and cultural interests. NCST had sent the first notice regarding the matter to the then chief secretary Dr Nitin Kareer on April 30, 2024, however, the body did not receive any response. In its second notice, sent on August 12, Saunik has been asked to submit an action taken report (ATR) within 15 days regarding the matter, if not, then NCST has warned to issue summons for personal appearance.

Rais Shaikh, in his letter to the NCST, had requested a stay on the invalidation of tribal student admissions to ITIs allegedly based on religion by the Mahayuti government and said it is a larger conspiracy of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to link tribals to religions.

Following allegations from BJP MLCs Niranjan Davkhare, Praveen Darekar and Prasad Lad that several ST students had allegedly converted to Islam or Christianity but had enrolled in ITIs under ST quota and taken benefit of reservations, the state govt had set up a committee headed by Dr Murlidhar Chandekar, former vice chancellor (VC) of the Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University.

According to the Government Resolution (GR) issued by the Skill Development Department led by Minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha, the panel was to find out the total number of ST students currently enrolled in ITIs who have taken admission under the ST quota even after converting to Christianity or Islam. In its report, the committee claimed to have found that 257 students, out of 13,856 ST students who were admitted to ITIs in 2023, had marked religions other than Hinduism in their admission forms.

Shaikh cited the report and said of these 257 students, 4 were Buddhist, 37 Muslim, 3 Christian, 1 Sikh, 190 others, and 22 did not mention a religion. Speaking to the media, Shaikh said that he welcomed the commission’s second notice. “However, the government’s delay in submitting a reply to the commission shows a lack of concern for the tribals. I will continue to fight for their justice,” the SP MLA said.