Maharashtra Gen Z Adivasis ask for more

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Students at the Manjari ST Hostel in Maharashtra have been protesting in the corridors of the boys’ section, with the women commuting about 4 km daily to the protest site. | Photo Credit: Vinaya Deshpande Pandit

As the media cameras hover over a youth group of 70–80 students, men on the left and women on the right, they lash out at the booms: “The government should feel ashamed! Its young generation has been suffering silently, raising demands in a democratic manner. And what are they doing? Ignoring our voices. The Adivasi will not be silent now. We are the children of Birsa Munda,” says a youth, his fists clasped. “There will be consequences if anything happens to our brothers and sisters who have been on a hunger strike,” says another young woman.

A group of medical staff intervene as they check the vital parameters of the students lying down at the Manjari ST (Scheduled Tribes’) Hostel on the outskirts of Pune, Maharashtra. Sleeping on cotton mattresses, covered in dusty blankets, these students on a hunger strike, gather all the energy when questions are posed to them. A group of students sit around their heads, whispering in their ears about the delegation which has left to speak with the government. The blue table fans are tilted horizontally, to give relief to the students lying down, weak from not eating for 14 days.

Other protesters are busy checking their social media feed. Some live stream the protest on their personal social media handles. A public announcement system is in use almost all the time, motivating the students to fight for their rights.

At the hostel are posters of Dalit icon Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the 19th-century educator-social reformer Savitribai Phule, and the 19th-century Maratha emperor social reformer Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj. One is of Birsa Munda, the tribal leader the young woman referred to, who fought for indigenous rights. The government celebrated his 150th birth anniversary in 2025 with much ado.

Tribal students have been protesting from August 12–13 in at least 25 parts of Maharashtra, to draw the government’s attention to their long-pending demands. These include the filling up of 12,500 government-job positions for tribals, as directed by the Supreme Court in 2017; better living conditions, kitchens, and reading rooms in hostels; improved and expanded educational facilities and infrastructure.

The government has so far held four rounds of talks with the protesters in Manjari. Of their list of 14 demands, it has so far accepted one, suspending the age limit clause for admission to the tribal government hostels. The protesters say they are positive their other demands will be met too.

Students have been protesting for 16 days at the Manjari ST Hostel on the outskirts of Pune city, seeking safety, health, and better educational quality and infrastructure. | Photo Credit: Vinaya Deshpande Pandit

The government says it is sensitive towards the tribals’ demands.