Rahul Gandhi flags 'humiliating' hostel rules, facilities for Maharashtra tribal students

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday urged Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to look into the problems of tribal students from the state who have been on a hunger strike for the last 10 days against age limit and alleged "humiliating rules" in state-run hostels. Gandhi, in a letter to Fadnavis, asked the Maharashtra chief minister to meet the protesting tribal students personally and resolve their problems at the earliest, including relaxing harsh conditions like enforcing the age limit of 30 years for staying in government hostels.

"Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis Ji, numerous tribal students from Maharashtra have been on a hunger strike for more than 10 days to demand their rights. "During the 'Chhatron ki Goonj' event in Pune, female students shared that hostels enforce an unnecessary age limit of 30 years, humiliating rules, unsafe facilities, and inhuman provisions such as pregnancy checks for women," the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said in a post on X.

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"These students, coming from remote villages and towns, are not asking for charity -- they are demanding their rightful entitlements. It is expected that you will meet them personally and immediately resolve their issues," Gandhi said while sharing a memorandum from students as well as his letter in his post. In the letter, Gandhi said tribal students from across Maharashtra have been on hunger strike for more than ten days and he had met them in Pune, where they told him about the rules that "strip them of their dignity" and "shut off their path to education".

"Many Adivasi students come from remote villages and depend on government hostels to study in the cities. A new rule bars anyone over 30 from these hostels, excluding many who are still completing their studies or preparing for exams. "Hostels are unsafe and often lack food, sanitation and medical care. Students have suffered injuries and deaths, including from snake bites. Facilities for women are worse still," he alleged in his letter.

"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 'fitness'. It is a humiliation that presumes them guilty until they prove otherwise. This rule is an attack on their dignity and their humanity," he said. Noting that these students are not asking for charity, the Congress leader said, "They are demanding what is theirs by right. They should not have to risk their health for their government to listen."