Tribal devpt minister agrees to meet angry Palghar residents

Savra on Tuesday called Rajiv Jadhav, tribal commissioner (ATC), Thane, who had met the agitators

Vishnu Savra, minister for tribal development and guardian minister for Palghar, has agreed to meet the agitators, who protested outside his residence on Monday, at Mantralaya on Friday.

After the agitation was suspended, the CPI-M and Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) workers cleaned the venue at Khandeshwari Junction. (HT)

Savra on Tuesday called Rajiv Jadhav, tribal commissioner (ATC), Thane, who had met the agitators. According to reports, Savra had to skip the meeting with agitators as he had an urgent meeting in Aurangabad.

On October 3, more than 50,000 tribal farmers from all over Maharashtra, under the joint leadership of All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), held a massive rally outside Savra’s house at Wada. All highways at Wada leading to Mumbai, Thane, Bhiwandi, Palghar, Dahanu, Talasari, Surat, Jawhar and Nashik were completely blocked for 16 hours.

Dr Ashok Dhawle, national secretary, AIKS, who led the agitation, said the BJP minister fled his hometown Wada in spite of committing to meet the delegation on September 22. “The tribal commissioner came to Wada on October 3 and we had a five-hour discussion with him,” said Dr Dhawle.

Jadhav has promised to address their demands pertaining to malnutrition-related deaths, implementation of Forest Rights Act and MNREGA, water and irrigation, PDS and other problems faced by tribal students.