On Saturday, Ramdas Athawale, Union minister of state for social justice, demanded reservations for the SC-ST community in the Indian cricket team.
The minister said that the BCCI should provide reservations to SC and ST sportspersons to give them equal opportunity in the sport.
Athawale said he was aghast by the huge margin of loss of the Indian cricket team’s defeat by Pakistan in the Champions Trophy final.
Also read: Superstar culture distorting Indian cricket contracts, says Ramachandra Guha
The loss in the finals left every Indian wondering if the match was fixed. The BCCI should investigate the matter and clear all doubts, he demanded.
The RPI leader went on to say that “perhaps reservation to SC, ST persons in the team would have ensured better performance”.
“There is no harm in giving a 25% reservation to these two categories,” he said and added that this could encourage players from the two sections to play better when they get a chance to play at the national and international level.
Athwale also announced his party’s plan to organise protests on August 15 for the same.
He would be meeting Maharashtra Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis, and Union minister, Nitin Gadkari, and appealing to them to help create the separate state.
He also said that the newly- launched Goods and Services Tax (GST) is the best thing that could happen in the country.
“It will bring economic freedom to the have-nots and fulfil the dream that Babasaheb Ambedkar saw of bringing equality in society,” said the union minister.
