TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
MARGAO: The Dhangar samaj on Wednesday made an impassioned plea to the government to mete out justice by including the community in the list of Scheduled Tribe communities.
The community has urged Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar to lead an all-party delegation to the Registrar General of India to make a strong case for Dhangar’s inclusion as Goa’s ST community.
President of the Dhangar Samaj, MLA Babu Kavlekar, said that the community is grateful to the Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar for extending all facilities enjoyed by the ST Communities in the state to the Dhangars. “The government has also sought legal opinion whether to extend reservation of jobs and seats in educational institutions to the Dhangar community, but we still feel and believe that the Dhangars deserve ST status given their socio-economic condition,” Kavlekar added.
Replying to a question, he said the 20,000 Dhangars in the state are awaiting the day when the community would be finally bestowed the ST status along with Gawdas, Kunbis and Velips. “The community does not want to indulge in politics over the issue. Our only demand is justice to the community by including it in the ST list,” he said.
Kavlekar said a Professor of a Dharward University has even replied back to the Registrar General of India, why Dhangars from Goa deserve inclusion in the ST list. “We now feel time has come for the Chief Minister to take an all-party delegation before the RGI to present our case. Even Dhangars from Bihar and Orissa have been bestowed ST status. The Centre cannot equate Goan Dhangars with their neighbouring counterparts to deny them the status,” he added.
