Yavatmal: Minority community members from the district have accused the district administration of "discrimination" in issuing status certificates to them.
The spokesperson of Minority Action Committee Ansar Ahmad said that barring a particular community rest are given a short shrift by the district authorities in issuing the certificates.
According to the district Minority Welfare Cell, the union government had set up a special department to oversee the welfare and upkeeping of minorities incliding Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Jain and others.
The members of these diverse community members are entitled for a certificate from a competent authority.
In Yavatmal, the Sub Divisional Magistrate, the Tehsildar and the Resident Deputy Collector are now gazing at each other over the dispute of the authority. The Tehsildar has referred the matter to the SDO who in turn sent the matter to the RDC for a clarification about the authority which is empowered to issue minority status certificate to the beneficiaries.
The minority members alleged that the SDO Milind Shegaonkar has earlier issued minority status certificates to the a particular community and tried to shift his responsibility on Tehsildar Rupesh Khandare when other members approached him, following which the minority action committee made a representation to the District Collector and later sat on a day`s hunger strike.
When contacted, Khandare said, "I was approached for the certificate by a few minority community members but I refused to issue the same due as he does not have authority".
District Collector Shravan Hardikar has admitted that a few minority status certificates were earlier issued to the members of Jain Community and the same was denied to the other minority community members owing to lack of guidelines from the state government.
Meanwhile, Yavatmal Christian Welfare Trust`s Shyla Abraham has said that her community students, who want to avail the minority benefits in some educational institutions in other states for pursuing higher studies, are badly in need of such certificates.
PTI
