After Marathas, Dhangar Community Intensifies Quota Stir

The state of Maharashtra is witnessing yet another quota stir, this time by the Dhangar community. The Dhangars or the shepherd community is at the forefront as it hopes to seek reservations and jobs under the Schedule Tribe (ST) category.

Their demands for the quota go way back to 2014, when the community had agitated prior to the state assembly elections.

In their latest attempt to shed light on the issue, multiple rasta- roko events were held across the state during last week. The movement is being spearheaded by the Dhangar Sangharsh Samiti Maharashtra Rajya (DSSMR). The Samiti is currently mobilising local leaders across western and northern Maharashtra, Marathwada and Vidarbha regions to voice their demand.

Amidst the assertion, the movement took a tragic turn as a 20 year old student, Yogesh Radhakrishnan Karke from Parbhani district committed suicide by hanging himself. According to his family, he committed suicide because of the reservation issue. A message was traced in his outbox to his friend which indicating the same.

The community has been given the status of Scheduled Tribe (ST’s) in other states like Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. In the state of Maharashtra, the issue assumed contention over its recognition. The community states that they have been recognised as a Scheduled Tribe by the center, however it has been misspelt as Dhangads due to a typing error. This error has deprived the community of the benefits under the ST status. The community is currently listed under the Vimukti Jati and Nomadic Tribes (VJNT) in Maharashtra. The VJNT, special backward and others together form 13 per cent of the total quota, out of which at present, Dhangars have 3.5 percent reservation in Maharashtra. Dissatisfied with the same, the community is asserting its demand based on the grounds that they are traditionally regarded as a nomadic tribe. Explaining the demands, Kailash Danger a first year student at TISS Mumbai, also involved in the agitation says, “The issue is of recognition and giving the right benefits to the community. To cover up the misspelling with the name of the community, several attempts were made by the government, however verification showed that there is no community such as Dhangad.” The center claims that it provides quota benefit to the Dhangad community, but Dhangars, the herding community is left out from this ambit.

Elaborating on the demands, Kailash adds, “We want recognition as ST’s and we want to avail our rightful benefits, we are also demanding a fund of Rupees 25 Lakhs to be given to the educated but unemployed young people from the community. The government before coming to power had this as a poll promise to the community.”

The Shepherd community has a stronghold in 26 Lok Sabha constituencies out of the total 48 in Maharashtra and is creating pressure on the government. The agitation is deemed necessary by the leaders following unrest among the community members, especially the poor, who believe their voice is not being heard by the government. However, there are legal hurdles in the way of the recognition of their demands. The Allahabad High Court had previously ruled that Dhangad and Dhangar are two distinct communities except similarities in nomenclature, which means that in order to recognize them as a ST the state cannot rule out the possibility of a constitutional amendment.

Additionally, the Supreme Court has also capped the reservation in the state to a fifty two per cent, out of which, Scheduled Castes have 13 per cent and Other Backward Castes (OBC) have 19 per cent reservation. To include the community under the ambit of the ST’s and also to accommodate the demand of the marathas, who are  demanding a constitutional amendment to provide a 16 per cent reservation to the community under the OBC category, a constitutional amendment increasing the cap will be needed, making it 68 per cent. The same was done in the case of Tamil Nadu. Existing communities under the ST category are also unwilling to dilute their share of the quota to accommodate Dhangars and have said that they will agree to the demands of  inclusion only if the overall reservation quota in increased.

To make matters worse for the Maharashtra government, tribal leaders and organisations have told the Maharashtra government not to take a hasty decision on 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. Simply reconciling and declaring the community under the ST category will be unconstitutional.

Making constitutionality of the provision a central issue, the opposition is cornering the government. In attempts to appease the community and balance the opposition, Maharashtra Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis issued a statement last week, stating, that government is "committed and taking every effort" to provide reservations to Dhangars in Maharashtra. "The government is committed and taking every effort to complete all procedures (for reservations for the community) at the earliest.

In an attempt to pacify the stir, the government has instructed the Tata Institute of Social Sciences  (TISS, Mumbai) to submit a detailed account to profile the socio-economic status of the community. Speaking to NewsClick, Professor, Shailesh Kumar Darokar said, “The report will be submitted within a week or two and clarity over the issue will emerge accordingly. Currently the government is pressurised by the stir and the opposition in state.”

The issue of inclusion of Dhangar community into ST’s comes across as a clear case of failed pre-poll promises, made to use the aspirations of a community as a political plank by the government to gain power. The agitation which is gaining momentum is not showing any signs of pacification despite another set of assurances by the chief minister.