Sharad Pawar slams Maharashtra govt over ‘security’ of women, contractual hiring and education policies

Mumbai: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar on Friday targeted the Maharashtra government over the "security" of women, “contractual hiring” and education policies in the state.

Addressing a press conference, Pawar claimed that 19,553 women were reported “missing” from the state between January 1 and May 31 this year.

This is the second time in a week that Pawar has targeted the home department, headed by Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, over the issue.

He also slammed the government over the “contractual hiring” of personnel in Mumbai police. He said the state has taken the decision to conduct government recruitments on contract.

On Thursday, while interacting with party workers, Pawar targeted the government over “contractual hiring” and said it does not take into account reservation for women, people belonging to Scheduled Castes, Schedule Tribes, and Other Backward Classes.

Earlier this week, the Maharashtra government issued an order to hire 3,000 personnel from its own security corporation who will work under the Mumbai police.

These personnel drawn from the Maharashtra State Security Corporation (MSSC), a government undertaking, will work under contract and assist the Mumbai police in select duties for a specific period of time.

The NCP president also criticised the education policies of the Maharashtra government.

He said the government’s decision to shut down schools with fewer pupils and merge them with other schools will lead to students walking miles to attend classes. This is also not conducive to the state which has played a pioneering role in the field of education, he said.

He slammed the government's decision to give state-run schools to private companies for adoption, saying it will give private entities to meddle in the affairs of schools.

To buttress his point, Pawar said a school in Nashik run by an alcohol manufacturer recently organised a programme of Gautami Patil, a popular dance artist in rural Maharashtra.