Maharashtra: Non-Buddhist Dalits seek bifurcation in Scheduled Caste quota

After protests by Marathas, Muslims and Dhangars for reservations, sections of non-Buddhist Dalits in Maharashtra are seeking sub-quotas within the Scheduled Castes (SC) category.

These Hindu Dalits allege that Buddhist Dalits (erstwhile Mahars who converted to Buddhism with Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar) have cornered most of these benefits due to their numbers and better political organisation. Hence, ring-fenced sub-categories will protect interests of the 58 other castes in the SC category. However, this is countered by Buddhist Dalit leaders, including those leading the factions of the Republican Party of India (RPI), on grounds that it will stratify the larger Dalit identity. 

“We want A, B, C and D sub-categories in the SC category... Buddhist Dalits were employed by the British in roles like police patils and kotwals, giving them an early exposure to the government and administration. Thus, they were in a position to corner quota benefits earlier than the other 58 Hindu Dalit castes,” charged former minister Laxmanrao Dhobale, who has launched a protest under the banner of the ‘Akhil Bharatiya Matang Samaj.’

Dalits form around 14 per cent of Maharashtra’s population, with Buddhists accounting for over half of these numbers. Those in the SC category are eligible for 13 per cent quotas in jobs and employment.

Dhobale sought sub-quotas for SCs on lines of those for vimukta jatis and nomadic tribes (VJNT). “To ensure equitable justice for all, based on their population, Buddhist Dalits can be included in the A category, the Matang community, which has the second-highest numbers, in B, Charmakars, Holars and Dhors in C, and other communities barring these can be categorised as SC-D,” he demanded.

Former Shiv Sena MLA Baburao Mane of the Rashtriya Charmakar Sangh said they would launch a protest after Diwali demanding a bifurcation in the SC quota. “All castes in the SC category must be divided in sub-quotas... otherwise, a select few corner benefits,” he added, stating that such demands had been made in other states too.

Dhobale added that they had organised protests in cities like Nashik, Kolhapur, Jalna and Aurangabad and threatened to intensify them. “In the elections, we will support the party which gives us our due. We will not fall prey to empty promises like in the past,” claimed the former NCP leader, who is veering closer to the BJP. He adding Maharashtra should make a recommendation to the Centre for sub-categories within the SC quota like in Punjab.

However, senior Dalit leader and littérateur Arjun Dangle opposed the demand. “This is cruel propaganda meant at creating contradictions in the larger Dalit identity and increasing differences between Buddhists and Hindu Dalits,” he said, adding that Buddhists were more progressive as they were militant than Hindu Dalits and had taken to education under Dr Ambedkar’s influence.

Dangle said instead of making such demands, it was necessary for other Dalit groups to organise and educate themselves.

In 1965, the report of the advisory committee on the revision of the lists of the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes appointed by the Government of India’s department of social security under BN Lokur noted that: “It has been in evidence for some time now that a lion’s share of the various benefits and concessions earmarked for the SC and ST is appropriated by the numerically larger and politically well-organised communities.”

RESERVATIONS IN MAHARASHTRA

13% SC/ SC converts to Buddhism

7% SC

19% OBC (covers both, Hindus and non-Hindus with economic ceiling called ‘creamy layer’)

VJNT

11% (VJ/De-notified tribes: 3%, NT-B: 2.5%, NT-C (Dhangars): 3.5% and NT-D (Vanjaris): 2%)

SBC: 2%