Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar (File photo)
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Thursday said the centuries-old ‘wari’ tradition will not be broken as the palkhis of Sant Dnyaneshwar and Sant Tukaram will be allowed this year, but with fewer warkaris.
“I have asked the Pune Divisional Commissioner and the District Collector to discuss with the trustees of the Alandi and Dehu Sansthans and find a way out regarding the palkhi tradition. Since the ‘wari’ will be held in June, we will have to take into consideration the then situation of the coronavirus pandemic… and plan accordingly,” Pawar told The Indian Express.
The palkhi can head to Pandharpur with fewer warkaris who will have to maintain social distancing, said Pawar. “This aspect will have to be discussed between the trustees and the local administration. The age-old palkhi tradition can be maintained with fewer warkaris,” he said.
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Madhukar More, president of the Sant Tukaram Maharaj Sansthan Samiti, said the number of warkaris was not an issue. “Every year, lakhs of them participate. But this year, the situation is completely different…. we are ready to carry out the tradition with any number as suggested by the government,” he said.
“We don’t intend to break the tradition of carrying the palkhis on foot. We are ready to carry out the palkhi tradition with only a handful of warkaris,” More said, adding that they were expecting a call from the divisional commissionerate to discuss the issue.
The Sansthan said from change of route by avoiding ‘red zones’ to mandatory wearing of masks and ‘darshan’ from a distance, they have already planned several norms for this year’s palkhi. “We will be placing our plan before the administration. They can also suggest what they have in mind. We are going to be accommodative and will strictly follow the government guidelines and directives,” he said.
Advocate Vikas Dhage-Patil, of the Shri Sant Dnyaneshwar Maharaj Sansthan, Alandi, also said they would abide by whatever decision the government takes. “Though we want to carry the ‘padukas’ of the sant to Pandharpur, as has been done for centuries, we do not want to do anything which will pose a risk to our fellow citizens…,” he said.
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District Collector Naval Kishore Ram said the administration has asked the trustees of Alandi and Dehu Devasthan to submit their plans. “We have asked them to submit their plans regarding the routes, number of warkaris and how they plan to maintain social distancing.”
“It is a matter of tradition and faith. We have to strike a balance between age-old traditions and the current situation… we will see to it that the palkhi tradition is carried out by strictly following social distancing norms.”
Ram said a meeting with trustees of both Devasthans will be held in the next two to three days and the matter will be finalised.
Manoj More has been working with the Indian Express since 1992. For the first 16 years, he worked on the desk, edited stories, made pages, wrote special stories and handled The Indian Express edition. In 31 years of his career, he has regularly written stories on a range of topics, primarily on civic issues like state of roads, choked drains, garbage problems, inadequate transport facilities and the like. He has also written aggressively on local gondaism. He has primarily written civic stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad, Khadki, Maval and some parts of Pune. He has also covered stories from Kolhapur, Satara, Solapur, Sangli, Ahmednagar and Latur. He has had maximum impact stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad industrial city which he has covered extensively for the last three decades.
Manoj More has written over 20,000 stories. 10,000 of which are byline stories. Most of the stories pertain to civic issues and political ones. The biggest achievement of his career is getting a nearly two kilometre road done on Pune-Mumbai highway in Khadki in 2006. He wrote stories on the state of roads since 1997. In 10 years, nearly 200 two-wheeler riders had died in accidents due to the pathetic state of the road. The local cantonment board could not get the road redone as it lacked funds. The then PMC commissioner Pravin Pardeshi took the initiative, went out of his way and made the Khadki road by spending Rs 23 crore from JNNURM Funds. In the next 10 years after the road was made by the PMC, less than 10 citizens had died, effectively saving more than 100 lives.
Manoj More's campaign against tree cutting on Pune-Mumbai highway in 1999 and Pune-Nashik highway in 2004 saved 2000 trees.
During Covid, over 50 doctors were asked to pay Rs 30 lakh each for getting a job with PCMC. The PCMC administration alerted Manoj More who did a story on the subject, asking then corporators how much money they demanded....The story worked as doctors got the job without paying a single paisa.
Manoj More has also covered the "Latur drought" situation in 2015 when a "Latur water train" created quite a buzz in Maharashtra. He also covered the Malin tragedy where over 150 villagers had died.
Manoj More is on Facebook with 4.9k followers (Manoj More), on twitter manojmore91982 ... Read More
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Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar (File photo)
