MUMBAI: Leader of opposite and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi wrote an open letter to the chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, asking him to meet protesting adivasi students in Pune against the new govt rules for adivasi student hostels that “strip them of their dignity and shut off their path to education”.In his letter posted on his social media account, Gandhi highlighted unsafe hostels in the state that “often lack food, sanitation and medical care. Students have suffered injuries and deaths, including from snake bites. Facilities for women are worse still.”During his Pune visit last week, Gandhi met some tribal students who informed him about their problems, and Gandhi assured them of help to highlight their issues.Gandhi expected to visit Maharashtra again during the coming weekend to attend a Congress workers training camp in Nashik.Earlier, the tribal students protesting in Pune wrote to the Gandhi seeking his help and demanded that two state GRs issued on August 5 and 14 this year be cancelled.They also demanded that the GR of November 2011 be updated according to present circumstances and increase in financial assistance.While urging Fadnavis to meet tribal students to resolve their problem, in his his letter Gandhi stated “I was shocked to learn that female students returning after an extended absence must undergo pregnancy tests and a range of other medical tests, to prove their”“This rule is an attack on their dignity and their humanity. These students are not asking for charity. They are demanding what is theirs by right.”
