Freeship: SC/ST parents in Maharashtra to protest

Now, students belonging to the scheduled caste and scheduled tribes category and their parents are demanding renewal of the freeship scheme. At a public meeting held at the Government Law College in Churchgate several parents and social workers have decided to launch a statewide protest on September 30.

The parents demand that the government should not cancel the freeship extended to the students. They say that coming from underprivileged backgrounds, they cannot afford the fees.

“We have children of vegetable vendors, autorickshaw drivers, blue-collar workers studying in schools. They cannot afford the fees charged,’’ said Milind Wagh, one of the speakers at the meeting.

In August 2010, Chembur resident Naresh Gosavi filed a petition in the Bombay high court after his son and two nephews were forced to leave on account of non-payment of the school’s dues under a freeship programme. The school had moved the court raising the issue of pending fees.

An interim order by the high court directed the government to reimburse a certain amount. However, the government moved the Supreme Court against the HC interim order.