Adiwasi Vidyarthi Kruti Samiti said the government will have to think hundred times before taking decision on inclusion of the Dhangar community into the Scheduled Tribe category.
Tribal leaders and organisations have told the Maharashtra government not to take a hasty decision on the inclusion of Dhangar community in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category. Akhil Bharatiya Tribal Development Council, an apex body, Adivasi Aarakshan Bachao Kriti Samiti and Adivasi Bachao Abhiyaan have argued that such an inclusion will be possible only after the government considers all parameters laid down in the Constitutional and legal framework.
Former minister and veteran Congress leader Shivajirao Moghe, who comes from the tribal dominated Yavatmal district, reminded that successive state governments had studied the issue but was unable to take a decision bypassing the stipulated norms. “The Tribal Research institute’s recommendation is a primary requirement for including Dhangar in the ST category, the state tribal development department recommends it to the Tribal Advisory Council which is chaired by the Chief Minister. After the Tribal Advisory Council’s recommendation, the state cabinet takes decision and recommends it to the Government of India for further action. This exercise is quite tedious but is mandatory,” he explained.
Moghe said there are three criteria that distinguish the tribals from the shepherds. These criteria also enable the government to define tribal from a non-tribal. “Tribals stay in ghettos, mostly cut off from the mainstream and their presence is relegated only to certain pockets,” he said.
An NCP leader said ‘tribals’ belong to a community, not caste. “Inclusion of Dhangar in the ST category may turn unconstitutional. In the past an attempt was made to include Banjara community into ST category but it did not stand the test of law,” he said.
Adiwasi Vidyarthi Kruti Samiti said the government will have to think hundred times before taking decision on inclusion of the Dhangar community into the Scheduled Tribe category.
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