ON October 3, 2016, over 50,000 adivasi peasants, women, youth and students from all over Maharashtra under the joint leadership of the AIKS, AIDWA, DYFI, SFI and AARM held an unprecedented gherao agitation outside adivasi development minister Vishnu Savra's house at the sub divisional centre of Wada in Palghar district. The gherao continued for 16 hours till dawn on October 4 with tens of thousands of people. All highways from Wada leading to Mumbai, Thane, Bhiwandi, Palghar, Dahanu, Talasari, Surat, Jawhar and Nashik were completely blocked for 16 hours as a result of this militant mass struggle.

Out of fear of this action, the BJP minister fled his hometown Wada, in spite of committing to an AIKS delegation on September 22 that he would be there in Wada on October 3 with all concerned officials. Under pressure of this action, the Maharashtra tribal commissioner Rajiv Jadhav rushed to Wada on October 3 night and the delegation had a five-hour long discussion with him and other officials from 10.30 pm to 3.30 am.

The state tribal commissioner gave positive assurances on many burning demands of the struggle, like malnutrition-related child deaths, implementation of the Forest Rights Act and MNREGA, water and irrigation, PDS, outlay under the Tribal Sub Plan and the manifold problems of adivasi students. The minister gave a letter the same day, setting up a special meeting in Mantralaya with all the concerned officials on October 7 to discuss and decide on the demands.

In view of all this, the gherao and rasta roko stir was suspended at 5 am on October 4 with a massive public meeting of tens of thousands of people.