GULBARGA, Oct 13: In the wake of the State government coming forward to provide salary grants to the educational institutions run by the Scheduled Castes/Tribes managements, the Ahimsa Vedike has threatened to launch an agitation throughout the State if the State government did not extend the salary grants within a month to all the institutions in the State run by the non-SC/ST managements.

Ahimsa Vedike is a body representing the State government employees' belonging to the General Category, Backward Classes, and the minorities. The vedike came into being during the Public Works Department engineers agitation with regard to the reservation in promotions issue earlier. Speaking to the Press here on Friday evening, Ahimsa President Seetkanth Tadkal stated that the permanently unaided educational institutions had been launching several agitations since past many years, demanding the State government to provide salary grants to the teaching and non-teaching staff of these un-aided educational institutions. "But now, the State government had discriminated among them (the permanently unaided educational institutions) by coming forward to provide salary grants to only those educational institutions which were run by the SC/ST managements," he added.

However, welcoming the State government's decision to bring the SC/ST educational institutions under the grant-in-code, Mr Tadkal nevertheless charged that the State government's decision was not only discriminatory, "but was also castist in nature". This measure is nothing but encouraging casteism and communalism in the education filed by the State government, he added.

Mr Tadkal stated that the private educational institutions played an important role in providing quality education to the deprived sections of the society, which the State government had failed to provide. Stating that hundreds of educational institutions run by the non-SC/ST managements were doing well in the State, he said, yet the conditions of the teaching and non-teaching staff, who were working there since last 15 years, was very bad and majority of them did not even get a four-digit salary.

Even though the State government had assured to provide grant-in-aid to all these permanently unaided educational institutions if ever a decision to this effect was taken, Mr Tadkal said, instead, the State government had now discriminated among these institutions by providing grant-in-aid to only those educational institutions run by the SC/ST managements. "We still do not know the reason for the State government to back out from its assurance," he added.

He claimed that the State government had obtained an undertaking from all the educational institutions including those run by the SC/ST managements while giving permission that they will run the institutions on permanent non-aided basis. Wondering what made the State government to take a decision towards favouring the SC/ST managements, he said, "perhaps the State government wanted to mollify the SC/ST members due to demotion of hundreds of Dalit engineers in the Public Works and Irrigation Departments following the December 1, 2000, Supreme Court's order," he added.

In a memorandum submitted to Chief Minister S M Krishna, the Ahimsa Vedike has demanded Mr Krishna to extend the grant-in-aid to all the permanently un-aided educational institutions irrespective of the caste and creed of the managements. It has also urged the State government to implement the Supreme Court's order regarding promotions in all the departments, and not only to those employees who have approached the courts. The court orders were applicable to all the departments, the memorandum said.