Ramdas Tambe
Pune: Outside the office of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Research and Training Institute (BARTI) in Pune, a head-shaving and half-naked protest was held today. This protest coincides with the 10th day of the indefinite hunger strike initiated by Harshvardhan Davane and Pallavi Gaikwad on August 5, 2024. Yesterday, the hunger strikers engaged in a video conference with the Principal Secretary of the Social Justice and Special Assistance Department, during which the research scholars asserted that the decisions made on October 30, 2023, regarding the comprehensive equal policy, and the government’s July 25, 2024, decision to provide only 50% of the post-matric scholarship to BARTI research scholars, were unconstitutional.
The hunger strikers firmly presented their stance to the Principal Secretary, stating that they would not accept the 50% scholarship. Despite being on the 10th day of the hunger strike, there was significant participation from the 2022 batch of research scholars in the protest. The scholars argued that the government is denying the constitutional educational rights of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes through its decision on October 30, 2023. They labeled the state’s stance as casteist, asserting that the ongoing hunger strike outside the BARTI office is not just for the scholarship, but also to protect and protest against the attacks on the constitutional and educational rights of SC and ST students.
The scholars demanded that the criteria applied to Sarthi and Mahajyoti should not be imposed on BARTI and TRTI by the government, warning that such policies would be deemed casteist and unconstitutional.
Today, many research scholars participated in the half-naked and head-shaving protest outside the BARTI office. Scholars, including Maruti Sonkamble and Pradeep Maidkar, shaved their heads, while others protested half-naked to oppose the 50% scholarship, demanding that the full 100% scholarship be provided from the date of registration. The BARTI office premises resonated with the slogans of the protesting scholars. The hunger strikers reaffirmed their stance that they would not end their indefinite hunger strike until the 2022 scholars receive 100% of the scholarship as per the UGC guidelines from the date of registration.