MPSC Protest May Become Aggressive If Demands Not Met; Pune May Come To A Standstill: NCP-SP MLA Rohit Pawar Tells FPJ - EXCLUSIVE

Pune: On the fifth day of the MPSC students’ protest at SM Joshi Bridge in Pune, the agitation led by NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar continued amid growing political support and increased police deployment. The protest is demanding, among other things, the resignation of MPSC Chairman Vivek Bhimanwar and a transparent inquiry into alleged irregularities in the commission.

In an exclusive interview with The Free Press Journal, Pawar spoke about the demand for the chairman’s resignation, the proposed names for his replacement, allegations of political interference, statements made by Sanjay Raut and Abhijeet Dipke, and the possibility of intensifying the agitation.

Q: The government has agreed to some of your demands, but the agitation is still continuing at three different locations in Pune. Why?

A: How can you say it is the same group of students? Almost 22 people had gone, of whom I think two or three people are protesting somewhere else. Now here, almost 15 of them — or rather, 18 of them — from the committee are in this particular andolan, or satyagraha. And here, if you look at it, almost 40,000 students are visiting and supporting this particular andolan every day.

At two different places, I think you know, in one place there are four people sitting. And when some leaders go there from the party which is in power, they bring in about 100 people along with them, they give media bytes, and when they leave, four people are sitting there for the andolan or satyagraha. Here, 40,000 people are there.

So that shows which andolan or satyagraha is genuine. We won’t speak against the students because every student is important.

What I’m trying to tell you is that the MPSC organisation needs some cleaning. Some of the officers there have been caught selling question papers. So paper leakage has happened from MPSC. This had never happened before. In 1998, it happened once, and after 30 years, it is happening now.

Bhimanwar, the president of MPSC in Maharashtra, was there when the paper was leaked. So now it is his moral responsibility to resign.

When our students had gone to talk to the government, to the CM, he had agreed that he would order a judicial inquiry. Now, when you say it’s a judicial inquiry, that means he’s agreeing that there was some issue that had happened.

So now, if the judicial inquiry has been ordered or has been started, that means it will inquire into and investigate the whole of MPSC. Now, if Bhimanwar is sitting there in the top job, he will definitely use his power to clear all the proof. Or if there are other officers or members of MPSC, they can also use their power to clear all the proof.

So what we are requesting is that when this particular investigation is happening, we don’t want the president to be there. Bring in some other person, and also the members. A lot of students are questioning the members also, and we don’t know who the thief is. So, to clean the whole system, a proper inquiry has to happen, and it can only happen when that particular president is not there in that particular post.

Q: Do you think that if the MPSC chairman steps down, or if the government asks him to step down, only then will the MPSC system work smoothly and be cleansed?

A: The process will start. Now, if we take an example of Tukaram Munde, he is FDA Commissioner. After he joined, he became so strict or he made the system so strict that almost 20-30 lakh litres of milk, which was actually not milk but more of a chemical composition, he caught and stopped. So this adulteration in milk, he totally stopped it. It helped the consumers; it also helped the farmers.

Now, when Munde was placed in that particular job or position, this happened. Before him, there were a lot of FDA Commissioners. Why didn’t it happen then?

One person, if he comes there and can do such a different thing, or a very aggressive thing, or a very systematic thing, we also hope that if we get a good officer at that particular level of MPSC, then I am pretty sure the system would be set right.

So that’s the reason why we want the system to start. We want the system cleansing to start, and it can start with the top job.

Q: Who would you want to see in that position?

A: Students are talking about Tukaram Munde, they are talking about Pravin Gedam, they are talking about a few other IPS officers. So whoever the students name, the government should place them.

Q: Will you refer these names to the government?

A: Already, the government knows what names are there. Two days back, we also wrote a letter to the government that if you’re doing the investigation in the way the students are saying, or what we are saying, then definitely justice could be given to MPSC and to the demands of the students. We have recommended a few names, and the names are already with the CM himself.

Q: What is your response to the fact that there are two other protests happening simultaneously?

A: See, 99% of the students are in this andolan. If four students are sitting there, and if all the people in power are going there, talk to them. But the students who are coming to the genuine andolan, satyagraha, which is happening here, their demand is that it should happen in such and such a way and that this particular officer should be placed.

Q: A funeral stretcher is being kept here. What does that indicate, according to you?

A: Those are the dreams of students. And those students are from common families like farmers, land labourers, rickshaw drivers and domestic help. So they were born in families which are economically backward. They may not be backward in their thought process, they may not be backward culturally, but economically they are born in backward families.

So now, if they are born in backward families and if the system is designed in such a way that it will only protect the rights of people who have money and power, then what will happen to their dreams?

So this particular demonstration that the students have done depicts that this is what they stand for. These are the dreams, and if the government is not ready to understand their demands and solve their issues, then their dreams would be, you know, whatever that process is called, that their dreams would be, whatever that thing would be done.

Q: Yesterday, Sanjay Raut visited the protest site and said, “The government is ruining a generation. Where will the government pay for these sins?” He also alleged that “white-collar mafias” are controlling the system. What is your take on his statement?

A: Which is true. The four or five people who have been caught stealing the paper or running the racket are from the MPSC organisation itself. So what he is saying is that white-collar people, that is, the officers.

Now, is it limited only to the officers, or does it go to the top or to the bottom? We will understand only if a transparent investigation is done.

Q: Abhijeet Dipke also visited yesterday after Sanjay Raut. There was a huge crowd when he visited. He said there are 20 lakh students and that if all of them come out onto the streets for one day, there will be a resignation the very next day. He later said, “Let Pune shut down if the government refuses to act on the demands.” What is your response?

A: It’s actually true. If the students decide, they can definitely shut Pune down. But in that process, what we also feel is that the citizens of Pune and even Maharashtra have understood why these students are fighting.

The students are fighting for a system wherein only good officers could be inducted into the government system. They are fighting for it. If good officers come into the government system, then we are all sure that in the future, all these good officers will work for the betterment of society.

But today, if people are becoming officers by paying ₹40 lakh or ₹1 crore, then they will only focus on making money.

That’s the reason why we’ll definitely think of seeing that we take our morcha towards a big road or something in Pune. But in that process, Pune people or the citizens of Pune will also support us. That is what we feel.

Q: Do you see Pune coming to a standstill in the coming days?

A: On the 7th or 8th, Rahul Gandhi will come, that is what we are understanding, not yet confirmed. Tomorrow is the Cabinet meeting. If in the Cabinet no good decision is taken, or the expected decision is not taken to send a proposal to the Governor, then we would have no other option.

Q: The government in power is alleging that you are using students for your political agenda and placing a gun on their shoulders to target the government. What is your response?

A: The road is open from the right side, the other road is open from the left side as well. People can come, people can go. If the students are coming here, they believe in this particular agitation.

If you look at the ministers, they are staying in a cage. They can’t take any call on themselves. Even if they have to tweet, they have to ask the Chief Minister’s Office. So they are living in a cage. There’s no cage here. Anyone can come and go.

So students who come, they come by choice. In the morning they study, in the afternoon they study, and in the evening they come and support the agitation.

So that’s the reason why there are 40,000 students every day here, and there are four students sitting there, because it is supported by the government and this is supported by the people of India.

Q: The police deployment has increased around the protest area. How do you see this?

A: Yeah, they have to increase it further because the number of students will go up.

Q: How long will the protest continue and what is your further planning? How will it go ahead?

A: The protest by the Adivasi students had gone on for 18 days. The protest for the removal of Dharmendra Pradhan went on for 30 days. So how can we say how long this protest would go? But this protest definitely may become aggressive in the coming future.

Q: So this protest may become one of the most aggressive protests in Pune?

A: Maybe yes, we won’t leave this place until the MPSC chief chairman resigns.