Radhkrishna Vikhe-Patil demands Vishnu Sawra’s resignation for making irresponsible statements about tribal children deaths in Palghar.
Leader of opposition in state assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil launched a scathing attack against Maharashtra’s Tribal Welfare Minister Vishnu Sawra and demanded his resignation for making irresponsible statements about tribal children death incident in Palghar. Vikhe Patil said that Fadnavis government has merely demanded an explanation from Sawra instead of taking action against him. Six hundred children had died in Palghar district due to malnutrition in 2016. Patil demanded that the government should act against Sawra instead of going soft.
“The government is sending wrong message to citizens through this act. Sawra is trying to mislead the people of Maharashtra as he is not serious about resolving the malnutrition issue. Families of tribals living in Palghar have not received any financial assistance from the government hence they vented their frustration against Sawra,” said Patil.
“Instead of pacifying tribals, Sawra was misbehaving with them which is unjustified. If Sawra had apologised for his statements then he would not have caused any embarrassment for the government. The minister should have accepted that he has committed a mistake. Instead of demanding an explanation from Sawra the Chief Minister could have ordered for a probe for ascertaining the reason behind increase in death of tribal children due to malnutrition. Sawra must resign from his post or he must be dismissed from the cabinet,” he added.
Palghar residents have urged Patil to visit malnutrition affected district. Therefore he has preponed his visit to Mokhada from 19th September to 17th September.
Leader of opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Council Dhananjay Munde said, “The Tribal welfare minister is responsible for the malnutrition deaths and he should resign from his post. The government should order for a probe into this matter.”
When AV tried to call Vishnu Sawra he remained unavailable for comment. The Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has demanded a probe into this incident.
Earlier Sawra had to face the wrath of tribals in Palghar whose children had died due to malnutrition. When he visited a tribal hamlet in Khoch village in the worst-hit Mokhada sub-district on Thursday evening, angry locals confronted the minister and demanded answers.
Some infuriated tribals asked him: “600 children have died here (in 2016) what have you done for us?”
So what? The government is doing its work, implementing schemes…..,” Sawra retorted, as some of the enraged villagers virtually asked him to ‘get out’.
Sawra’s comments were dubbed “insensitive” by the Congress, Nationalist Congress Party and even ruling alliance partner Shiv Sena. Later, Sawra alleged that some activists of Shramjeevi Sanghatana, a local organisation, were instigating the tribals and that his comments were being “twisted out of context,” even as videos of the encounter went viral on the social media.
