Youth can't be ignored if those in govt want to retain power: Sharad Pawar

PUNE: Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday said that if those in the government want to keep power in their hands, they cannot ignore the youth who are carrying out the 'Yuva Sangharsh Yatra' in Maharashtra.

The 'Yuva Sangharsh Yatra', a foot march from Pune to Nagpur to highlight the issues faced by youth in Maharashtra, led by NCP MLA and Sharad Pawar's grandnephew Rohit Pawar, was flagged off from here on Tuesday.

Participants of the march will travel to 13 districts, covering more than 800 km. The 45-day march will end in Nagpur during the winter session of the state legislature.

"This march will encourage the youth from the state, and I am sure that the process of transformation and fulfillment of your demands will get initiated from this Yuva Sangharsh Yatra. The best example of this yatra is that the moment you decided to start (this march), the decision of contractual recruitment was withdrawn by the government," Sharad Pawar said.

"By the time the yatra reaches Nagpur, if those in the government want to keep the power in their hands, they cannot ignore the youth who are carrying out this yatra in a peaceful democratic way, and if the government takes that kind of approach (to ignore the march by youth), they will have to pay a heavy price," he said.

The NCP leader said the charter of demands of the youth includes that educational institutes do not charge exorbitant fees and return the excess fees charged from parents of the wards.

"The other demands are recruitment on vacant posts of teachers and professors in schools and colleges, the recruitment process should be done through the MPSC; and the development of Information Technology sectors in two-tier cities like Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Solapur, Kolhapur and Amravati," he said.

The other demands include withdrawal of the school adoption scheme and cluster school project, enactment of a law against exam paper leaks, start the process of recruitment of over 2,50,000 candidates (across various departments) and waiver of interest on education loans given to students.

For all these demands, a dialogue is needed with the government, Sharad Pawar said.

"You clutch all these demands together and submit them to the chief minister and if you wish, I will speak to the CM to convene a meeting for all these demands made by the youth, and I will personally be present at the meeting with you people," the NCP chief said addressing the youth gathered at the event.

He said the CM will be asked about the timeline for a decision on these demands and if the demands are fulfilled, the CM will be congratulated. "But if the work is not done, will decide what to do," he said.

"But I am sure that the CM of the state will look into all these issues with great seriousness and resolve these issues," he added.