Shiv Sena protests for Marathi Manoos at I-T office

MUMBAI: Shiv Sena activists on Tuesday protested outside Ayakar Bhavan — the Income Tax department headquarters — at New Marine Lines to demand equal job opportunities for Marathi-speaking people.

Around 1,200 Shiv Sainiks, under the leadership of leaders Gajanan Kirtikar, Anand Adsul and Anil Desai, later handed over a memorandum to the Income Tax officials and demanded a status quo in the recruitment.

Kirtikar said, “In its latest recruitment drive, the Income Tax department has appointed 403 employees as Tax Assistants. Of them, only 28 are Marathi. According to the recruitment rule, the candidates must have the knowledge of local language. Thus, the Income Tax department has flouted the rule.”

It was not clear if the others who had been recruited had a knowledge of Marathi, even if they are not of Maharashtrian origin.

Interestingly, it was the Shiv Sena which had opposed the recruitment drive four months ago. But it could not stall it. When asked about the timing of the agitation, Kirtikar said, “We are  fighting for the cause of Marathi people since more than 30 years. Now, some political upstarts have begun imitating us. They believe in violence. But we don’t.”

He was obviously referring to Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, which has tried to hijack the plank.