Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Suvendu Adhikari has accused the Mamata Banerjee government of neglecting the Adivasi community in West Bengal. During a press conference on Tuesday, the Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly alleged that Adivasi people were being deprived of their constitutionally mandated reservations in education and jobs.
Adhikari claimed that the state government was avoiding permanent posts in favour of contractual employment. He cited a recruitment drive by the Food Department for contractual employees, who would be paid a monthly salary of โน15,000. He alleged that this drive was bypassing reservation rules, thereby ignoring the six per cent quota for Adivasi people and 22 pc for Scheduled Castes.
“Central guidelines and commission recommendations clearly state that reservations apply to casual, contractual, part-time and even promotional opportunities, not just permanent posts,” he said. Adhikari announced his intention to write to the Governor and “initiate legal action along with Adivasi and Scheduled Caste representatives”. He claimed that similar reservation norms had been ignored in thousands of other jobs in the past, and he also alleged that a significant number of “fake” ST certificates had been issued by the state government.
Adhikari also highlighted an incident on August 15 in which an Adivasi teacher and football referee was allegedly kicked by a Trinamool Congress leader during a football match in Medinipur. He claimed that while an arrest was made after protests, the accused secured bail within 48 hours.
The BJP leader praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for promoting tribal representation, citing the election of Droupadi Murmu as President, which he noted was opposed by the TMC. Adhikari also remembered the contributions of Adivasi leaders such as Birsa Munda and Sidhu Murmu to India’s freedom struggle.
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