Ramdev to preside over Maldhari meet in June

Maldhari community is a generic name for over a dozen of communities spread over in the grasslands of Panchal,Geer,Bardo and Banni areas of the Saurashtra and Kutch regions.

The meeting will be organised by an Ahmedabad-based NGO,Maldhari Rural Action Group,and will be focused on the issues faced by the community and prepare a charter of demands to table in front of the state government.

Some of the key points that the Parliament will focus includes diminishing grasslands for the traditional cattle-rearing community and their subsequent switch-over to other professions. “One of our main agendas is to propose the making of ‘special pastoralist zone’ in the grassland areas across Saurashtra and Kutch regions,so the community can stay true to their traditional profession of livestock rearing.

“We are expecting close to 3,000-strong participation by the Maldhari community from across the state. There is no policy for Maldhari community as they cannot own any land in their name. Another issue is that: many of them who rear sheep and goats do not get any compensation as these two do not even come under important animals according to governments laws,” said Neeta Pandya,founder of the NGO.