Amid the ongoing agitation over reservations for Marathas, scores of activists belonging to the Dhangar community hurled stones at the district collector’s office and damaged vehicles there at Jalna in Marathwada after the Collector refused to meet them and receive a memorandum from their leaders demanding Scheduled Tribe (ST) status for the Dhangar community.
The protests by the Dhangar community activists turned violent when they — as part of the protests organised in various districts of the state to press for their long-standing demand —had taken out morcha to the Jalna district collectorate to submit a memorandum rooting for various demands, including the grant of ST status for their community.
The dhangar activists — whose morcha taken out through the main thoroughfares of Jalna town culminated into an impromptu public meeting near the district collector’s office — were halted near the Collectorate’s gate when they tried to enter the place to submit a memorandum to the collector.
Upset by the refusal to allow them inside the collectorate, the activists demanded that the Collector, Dr. Shrikrishnanath Panchal come to meet them and accept their memorandum of demands.
However, the activists’ demand went unheeded, despite their repeated pleas to the officials present. By then, the activists gathered there had got restless. Some of the activists forcefully managed to gain entry inside the Collectorate.
The angry activists hurled stones at the collectorate’s office, broke window panes and also damaged vehicles parked inside the premises.
Currently, the Dhangar community - better known as Sheppard community — gets 3.5 per cent reservation under the Vimukta Jati & Nomadic Tribes (VJNT) category of Maharashtra.
The Dhangar community groups had been demanding reservation in ST category in Maharashtra — as the “Dhangad” got reservation in other parts of India in SC category.
A topographical error Dhangar (Dhangad) has led to the problem and they get reservation in VJNT category in Maharashtra.
Of the total 52 per cent reservation in the state, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes account for 13 and 7 per cent, respectively, OBCs get 19 per cent, VJNT, Special Backward Class and Nomadic Tribes account for 13 per cent.
Apart from the grant of ST status, the Dhangar community is demanding the conduct of a Caste Census and allotment of a plot for a memorial to the legendary Queen Ahilyabai Holkar in Jalna town.
Their Other demands include: free hostel facilities for Dhangar community students in all district of the state, arms licence should be issued to shepherds who graze their flock in the forests, , at least one government job per Dhangar family, loans at concessional rates through the government and setting up a corporation for Dhangar welfare with a corpus fund of Rs 10,000-crore.
Early this month, the Maharashtra government set up an empowered committee headed by chief minister Eknath Shinde to ensure that Dhangars, classified as a nomadic tribe under Other backward Classes (OBC), get the benefits of government-run welfare schemes.
The 13-member committee - comprising eight ministers and five representatives from the Dhangar community, each representing a region of the state - has been assigned the task of speedily implementing 13 dedicated schemes for the Dhangar community.