The dhangar community whose population has remained steady over the years at less than a thousand in Canacona taluka with pockets of their dwellings spread all over the taluka feel neglected and marginalized as they struggle to make ends meet with dwindling income from goat rearing or marginal farming which are the only economic activities they perform for a living.
Dhangar one of the oldest community is believed to have migrated from Maharashtra to Goa over many centuries ago having meshed comfortably in Goa they mostly settled in places where they could grow millets and other vegetables for self consumption and close to grasslands for goat rearing.
The word “Dhangar” may be associated with a term for “cattle wealth” but with passage of time most of the house holds belonging to this community neither own cattle nor have wealth.
Traditionally the dhangars from the taluka were shepherds, buffalo keepers and farmers they where too late to take up modern-day education. Though they have a presence not only in Canacona but also in other parts of Goa they are still a politically disorganised community and are socially, educationally, economically and politically backward. Earlier they used to live a socially isolated life due to their occupation, wandering mainly in forests, hills to graze their goats, cows and buffaloes and survived by selling milk and goat meat.
When they take their cattle or goats for grazing they take a stick and are accompanied by one or two dogs, who assist them in keeping the flock together and in saving them from wild animals.
Most of the dhangars in the taluka are landless as they are either living on comminidade land or on temple properties and for survival they do small scale agriculture in patches of land around their houses with some of the family members of late engaging themselves in manual labour in the locality.
Mr. Bombo Zoro a member of the dhangar community who stays at Dabel in Poinguinim says that some of the younger generation have taken up education and done graduation but a very handful of them have been able to get government jobs, “before elections politicians promise us heaven but till today the ground reality has not changed for us, our demand for inclusion of our community in ST category is still not met ” Zoro lamented. With not much economic activity and no job some of the male members from the community have become addicted to alcohol which has left already distressed families in despair.
There are about 150 households in the taluka belonging to the dhangar community based at Mastimoll, Sristhal, Karvem, Sadolxem, Dapot and Polem who mostly live under poverty line and take up different types of jobs for a living, most say that they have given up cattle and goat rearing as grazing lands has fast disappeared from the land scape of Canacona and also due to the fact that if their cattle stray into private property they say they have to listen to a mouthful of bad words and abuses. There are government schemes available to this community but lack of knowledge about the same and no supporting property documents in some cases has rendered these schemes useless they say.
Enquiries with the elders from the community revealed that their demand for special status with privileges, regularization of current settlements, grant of government land and government jobs are still pending and needs immediate attention of the authorities otherwise the widening gap between other communities and dhangars of Canacona as far as socioeconomic index is concerned will never be bridged feel the elders from the community.
