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

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example of this yatra is that the moment you decided to start (this march), the decision of contractual recruitment was withdrawn by the government,” Sharad Pawar said.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.

Sharad Pawar flagged off his grandnephew Rohit Pawar's 'Yuva Sangharsh Yatra'. The foot march is scheduled to commence in Pune on October 24 and conclude in Nagpur during the winter session. It will traverse 28 talukas and 420 villages across ten districts, covering a wide geographical area, including Pune, Nagar, Beed, Jalna, Parbhani, Hingoli, Washim, Amravati, Yavatmal, and Nagpur.During this yatra, a wide range of topics will be addressed, including government exam paper leaks, corruption, pending teacher vacancies, the establishment of a youth commission, special programs to support young farmers, interest waivers on education loans for unemployed youth, district-wise hostels for working women, empowerment initiatives for organisations like Sarathi, BARTI, and Mahajyoti institutions, reskilling efforts, plans for a separate policy to attract IT companies to tier-two cities, the establishment of industrial units at the taluka level, student hostels in every district, and opportunities for youth in sports, among other significant issues.