Tukaram Mundhe to be secretary of MPSC inquiry panel as Pune students' protest enters day 11

The students' agitation in Pune over demands related to the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) has taken an important turn. The protest has now gone on for 11 days. To placate the students, Minister Shivendraraje Bhosale met them on behalf of the state government. He said the Chief Minister is positive about the students' demands, and made some major announcements.

The most important announcement was that senior officer Tukaram Mundhe will be appointed secretary of the MPSC inquiry committee. The government also made its position clear on withdrawing the cases registered against students during the agitation.

The students are sitting on a dharna at S. M. Joshi bridge in Pune with several demands related to the functioning of the MPSC. The biggest demand of the agitation is that commission chairman Vivek Bhimanwar resign. To resolve the issue, Bhosale first spoke to Nationalist Congress Party MLA Rohit Pawar and the agitators. He then met the students on dharna and told them the government was trying to resolve their problems.

In the five-member inquiry committee, B. D. Naik will be chairman and Tukaram Mundhe secretary. The other three members are Ganesh Patil, Lakhmi Gautam and Dilip Bhosale. All eyes are now on how much transparency the decision brings to the inquiry and how the students' grievances are addressed.

Shivendraraje also said that whoever is found guilty in the MPSC matter during the inquiry will face strict action. He also said the number of posts would be increased in the upcoming Group C recruitment examinations. This is considered important for candidates waiting for government jobs.

The minister handed Rohit Pawar a draft of the demands the government has accepted. Pawar read the draft out to the agitating students. However, it emerged that the draft carried no clear mention of MPSC chairman Vivek Bhimanwar's resignation.

Pawar then raised the question that the students' main demand had not been met at all. He said once again that chairman Vivek Bhimanwar's resignation should be taken. Thus, despite the government's announcements, the biggest issue of the agitation remains unchanged.

In the 11 days of the agitation, three major things have happened: the announcement of Tukaram Mundhe's appointment, the assurance of withdrawing cases and the assurance of action against the guilty. Even so, the demand for Bhimanwar's resignation remains. It remains to be seen whether the students are satisfied with the government's assurances and whether the agitation is called off. There is hope of a resolution, but the final decision on all the students' demands is yet to come.