DHANGARS STIR THE QUOTA POT

The Maratha agitation for a share of the caste-based reservation pie is having its inevitable domino effect on the rest of Maharashtra’s social matrix.

- Dhaval Kulkarni

To start with, the Dhangars—traditionally a nomadic shepherding community who form nearly 12 per cent of the state’s 126 million population by some estimates—are seeking a shift to the scheduled tribes (ST) category so as to avail a higher quota.

The Dhangars, who now include both long- and short-range pastoralists and settled farmers, are considered the second largest caste group in Maharashtra after the Maratha-Kunbi caste complex with a strong electoral imprint in over a quarter of the state’s 288 seats. However, their demand is meeting resistance from tribal bodies, who fear that the newer entrants may cut into their share of reservation in jobs, education and politics, and gradually deprive them of their land if made eligible to purchase it.

The Dhangars are currently NT-C, or the Nomadic Tribes category, a sub-category of the OBCs, with a 3.5 per cent quota in Maharashtra. Their demand for ST status—and inclusion in that category’s higher 7 per cent quota— hinges on the presence of ‘Dhangad/Oraons’ in the ST list of the Constitution. Dha ngar leaders claim Dhangars and ‘Dhangads’ are the same and ‘Dhangad’ is a “spelling mistake”—the sole reason why Maharashtra has deprived them of benefits. Leaders from recognised Adivasi groups point out that the Dhangads and Oraons found in the Chhota Nagpur plateau in Jharkhand, Bihar, West Ben gal and Odisha are a different people. A 2018 report by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) also noted that there were very few similarities between Dhangars and Dhangad/ Oraons.