The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes has now issued an arrest warrant for AS Rajiv, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Bank of Maharashtra, in connection with the harassment of a Scheduled Tribe woman in Odisha for completing paperwork. was trying to She was entitled to benefits after the death of her husband, a former employee.
The ST Commission, exercising its powers as a civil court, issued the warrant and directed the Director General of Police, Maharashtra, to arrest Mr. Rajeev and produce him at the Commission’s headquarters in New Delhi.
Officials said the woman from Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district was trying to complete paperwork for benefits due to her being the wife of a former bank employee. Her husband had been a deputy manager in BoM.
Acting on the woman’s complaint, the commission had issued summons to Mr. Rajeev on February 6 in connection with the case. He was directed to appear before the members of the commission on 17 February, but did not appear. The ST panel said that he was absconding and was moving out of the way to avoid being summoned.
The commission asked the DGP of Maharashtra to execute the warrants on or before March 2 and directed that a report be filed in case the warrants are not executed within the said time.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes tabled a report in the House in December, 2022, stating that the number of incidents of denial of pension to SC and ST employees of PSUs across the country is on the rise and other benefits or facing delay in the same, it is being told that their caste-certificates are still being verified.
The House panel had earlier also noted that such harassment of SC/ST employees and their family members was becoming a “practice” for the concerned organizations and PSUs.