Members of Chamar community would no longer be called ‘Chamars’ in Gujarat as the State Government has decided to address the members of this Dalit caste as ‘Rohit’.

Chamar or Rohit community in the State are involved in skinning of dead animals and contributing in leather industries. On late Friday evening, the Gujarat information department issued a Press communiqué saying that Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has taken the decision in wake of representations made by several organisations from Rohit community.

As per the State Government data, Rohits account for nearly 40 per cent of the Dalit population in Gujarat. With the decision of Rupani Government, all the Government offices, educational institutions and local bodies would make change and use terminology Rohit instead of Chamar in their records from now onwards. Generally in Gujarat villages and towns the areas where the members of Rohit community residing in the State are called as ‘Chamarvas’ that would be changed to ‘Rohitvas’, said the State Government in the statement.

It is worth mentioning that the incident of Dalit (from Chamar community) flogging near Una in July this year had put the State Government on the receiving end. Sources in the political circles believe that the move might have come in wake of Una incident. However, the Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani who is up in arms against the State Government over issues related to Dalits said that he belonged to Chamar community and he wouldn’t mind being called Chamar or Rohit as it wouldn’t make any difference to his social status.

Unlike Mevani’s argument, many Dalit leaders belong to Rohit community believe that it would change the way they were seen by other communities and welcomed the state government’s decision. The main opposition party Congress said that since past few years Chamars were already being called as Rohits and there was nothing new in it.