AHMEDABAD: A five-minister committee formed in Gujarat to quickly resolve issues that can trigger protests has failed to stop agitations in the state. At least 17 protests are being staged in Ahmedabad currently, mounting pressure on the state government ahead of the Assembly elections in December. Sources say PM Narendra Modi in the last meeting held at BJP headquarters in Gandhinagar had given September-end as the deadline to bring all the agitations to an end.
Among those protesting at present for various issues are teachers, class-4 government employees, health workers, farmers, candidates for Lok Rakshak Dal (LRD) recruitment, kin of government employees who died on duty, forest guards, mid-day meal employees, secretariat clerical staff and village computer entrepreneurs.
On Thursday, hundreds of former and current state government employees joined a ‘pen-down’ protest across the state, demanding the implementation of the old pension scheme (OPS). They also announced an indefinite strike from September 27.
The government had earlier agreed to OPS for employees who joined the service before 2005. But the proposal was rejected by the National Old Pension Restoration United Front. The class-4 employees have a 14-point charter of demands, including OPS, no contractual recruitment, pay-grade parity, health insurance, provident fund, etc.
Recently, the Chaudhary community launched protests against the arrest of their leader, Vipul Chaudhary, for alleged misappropriation of `750 crore during his tenure as the chairman of Mehsana Dudhsagar dairy. Farmers of north Gujarat are also protesting in the state capital against the central government ‘Bharatmala project’. Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh) wants the state government to declare uniform power tariffs for farmers.
However, some protests have been withdrawn. Employees of Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation, ex-Army personnel, and Maldhari community rolled back their agitation on Wednesday after the government assured them of looking into the issue. According to political analyst Dilip Patel, Gujarat has never seen so many protests ahead of polls. “Protestors seem to understand well that this is the best time to raise their demands. If it continues, it will create a big problem for the BJP as the agitations belongs to various communities and sections,” he said.
Agitations in past three months
On Thursday, hundreds of former and current state government employees joined a ‘pen-down’ protest across the state