Nagpur police on Monday stopped members of women Self-Help Groups (SHGs) while they were going to the office of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to chant 'Hanuman Chalisa' to draw attention his towards their demands, an official said.
Members of the women SHGs from neighbouring Wardha have been staging protests in Nagpur city, the hometown of Fadnavis, for a week demanding the release of honorarium which they claimed has been withheld by the state government.
After they gave the protest call on Sunday, the city police beefed up security at the office of Fadnavis, who represents the Nagpur south-west Assembly constituency and is also the guardian minister of Wardha district.
Nihal Pande, representing the protesters, said they had planned to take out a rally from the Samvidhan square to Trikoni Park near the residence of Fadnavis to highlight their demand.
The protesters were stopped when they started marching towards the deputy chief minister's office, an official from Sitabuldi police station said. "It has become difficult for these women to survive without honorarium. Fadnavis has not met the protesters despite their protest since a week," Pande claimed.
