An interim report presented in the Maharashtra assembly on Friday revealed that 257 Scheduled Tribe (ST) students claimed reservation benefits for admissions to Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) in the state despite listing their religion as non-Hindu.
At the bottom
The Maharashtra government has established a committee to gather information on ST students in ITIs who have converted to Christianity or Islam.
Minister of Skill Development Mangal Prabhat Lodha shared the report in the state assembly, mentioning that the government will review the records of these 257 students to determine the validity of their admissions. “If necessary, police action will be taken in these cases to address and safeguard the rights of STs. The committee has also suggested that a similar survey may be conducted in other educational institutions if complaints are made,” said Lodha.
Based on the preliminary findings, the committee of three members thoroughly reviewed the admissions process at training institutes in Maharashtra for 2023.
A total of 13,858 students were admitted to seats meant for the Scheduled Tribes, with 257 applicants identifying with religions other than Hindu. Among these, 37 students are Muslim, four are Buddhist, three are Christian, and one is Sikh. Additionally, 190 students specified other faiths on their admission forms, while the religious affiliation of 22 students remains unknown due to missing details on their forms.
According to government regulations, 7.5% of seats are allocated for the Scheduled Tribes quota. The current legislation also affirms that individuals from Scheduled Tribes backgrounds can follow any religion, and those castes or tribes listed as Scheduled Tribes under Article 342 of the Constitution are eligible for reservation benefits.
Dr Murlidhar Chandekar, former Vice-Chancellor of Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University who heads the probe committee, said, “There is a list of those who come under Scheduled Tribes; Hindu STs are on that list too. If you are obtaining a certificate as a Hindu ST and then converting, that’s like getting a double benefit. Our committee is working to identify such cases as they are impacting the rights of tribal people.”
The committee intends to inspect all 257 instances, encompassing the ITIs where they are enrolled, the villages where they live, and the integrated tribal development initiatives in the region. Subsequently, the committee will assess if services designated for tribals should be offered to these individuals if they have embraced different faiths, to devise a suitable course of action.
“As per the terms of reference for our committee, we want to identify if such conversions have happened. What policies can be made to stop such cases and protect these seats for Scheduled Tribes? Changing religion does have an impact on customs and traditions for tribals,” Chandekar said.
During the Nagpur assembly session, BJP MLCs Niranjan Davkhare, Praveen Darekar, and Prasad Lad brought up a concern regarding STs who had converted to Islam or Christianity but were still benefiting from reservation privileges. They pointed out that despite their conversion, these individuals were able to secure admissions in state ITIs meant for Scheduled Tribes.
In Maharashtra, there are 966 ITIs with more than 100,000 students enrolled.
Maharashtra SP MLA calls it a ‘stunt’
Rais Shaikh, an MLA from the Samajwadi Party, described this committee as a conspiracy. He claimed that Lodha had previously attempted a similar “stunt” by alleging there were 1 lakh cases of Love Jihad in Maharashtra. Shaikh further deplored the formation of an illegal committee to investigate a matter that was already legal. “This is a plan to strip tribal students of their benefits by delisting them because they want to give benefit to only one religion. I will legally challenge this report and committee at an appropriate forum,” he said.
In December, Eknath Shinde’s government directed the committee, which includes Chandekar and two other members, to submit a report within 45 days.