Patil pulled up for inaction
Three ministers have expressed their discontent over increased atrocity cases against dalits and women across the state. Minister for employment guarantee scheme (EGS) Nitin Raut raised the issue in the state cabinet meet on Wednesday, followed by women and child welfare minister Varsha Gaikwad and social justice minister Shivajirao Moghe.
Eventually, CM Prithv-iraj Chavan announced that the second Monday of every month would be reserved for hearing grievances of women and will be observed as Lokshahi Din. The CM hears grievances of common people on the first Monday of every month at Mantralaya, which is called Lokshahi Din.
While discussing various issues, including a review of the severe drought situation in many parts of the state, Mr Raut raised the issue of increased atrocity cases against dalits and women. He referred to recent cases in Ahmednagar, Baramati and Bhandara, and alleged that the police was not taking proper action against culprits in dalit atrocity cases, according to his sources. Mr Raut narrated the case of Sonai of Ahmednagar, where three youth from the backward class were brutally murdered. He also claimed that in the Bhandara case, the accused offered `1.5 lakh to the victim for out-of-court settlement. He further alleged that the police used to register weak cases to help the accused. “They also try to let them go free from all the charges in some cases,” he alleged.
Mr Raut was supported by Ms Gaikwad and Mr Moghe. Both have reportedly supported the allegations by Mr Raut, who was targeting home minister R.R. Patil for police inaction in atrocity cases.
The home minister, however, refuted all the charges levelled by them. He argued that Maharashtra has lesser cases of atrocities when compared to the other states. Minister of state for urban development Bhask-ar Jadhav supported Mr Patil’s argument. Mr Patil even claimed that many people used to register fake atrocity cases by misusing the Atrocity Act. Mr Raut said that this was not possible due to scrutiny of each and every case, before registering.
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