Tribal Welfare, Crumbling Infrastructure and Exam Irregularities Spark Multiple Protests in Maharashtra
08 September 2026 | The Wire
New Delhi: A spate of protests seem to be taking place in Maharashtra on issues spanning examination irregularities, infrastructure, safety and welfare.
Tribal students and activists across Maharashtra have announced a march to Mumbai under the banner of Sakal Adivasi Vidyarthi Andolan Kruti Samiti between September 15-20 to protest against tribal development minister Ashok Uike. Meanwhile, thousands of students and job aspirants took out a march in Pune on Monday (September 7), protesting against the alleged irregularities in the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) examinations conducted in March this year. The students have demanded the MPSC chairman’s resignation. Nearly 20 kms from the MPSC protest, about 5,000 IT professionals gathered in Pune’s Hinjawadi for a silent protest against the state of infrastructure in the area.
Tribal activists’ march
Tribal students and activists in Maharashtra held a meeting in Nashik on Sunday night to discuss issues concerning education, safety and welfare of students belonging to tribal communities. The decision to organise the march to Mumbai was taken at the meeting attended by representatives of tribal students, medical students, social activists and organisations from across the state.
The march follows a 19-day hunger strike in Nashik over the lack of basic facilities in tribal hostels. The students ended the strike on September 4 after Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) co-founder Abhijeet Dipke advised them to take their protest to Mumbai. “We held a meeting on Sunday night where it was decided that a long march from Nashik to Mumbai would be organised with participation from across the state. The Samiti has started mobilising support at the village level, reaching out to parents whose children are enrolled in ashramshalas,” Prashant Gavande, student representative of the federation, told the Times of India.
The Samiti is seeking the resignation of Wooike, along with the state tribal department’s secretary and commissioner. Their other demands include an impartial investigation into the alleged molestation of girl students at an ashram school in Gadchiroli, removal of the central kitchen system, an end to donation practices in education and resolution of roster-related issues.
They have also sought concrete assurances regarding the safety and education of tribal students. Gavande said politicians including Rahul Gandhi, Aaditya Thackeray and Rohit Pawar, as well as Dipke, had assured support for the agitation. He said previous protests in Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur had been led by individual organisations, whereas the Nashik movement represented tribal students from north Maharashtra, Marathwada, Vidarbha and Pune.