Rathwa-Koli community to be considered part of Rathwa

The tribal district of Chhota Udepur broke into celebrations following the announcement with local tribals and Congress leaders hailing the circular as a “victory”, bringing to end a long-drawn agitation from the Rathwa community over the issue.

However, the government officials claimed that the “ circular” is not new but only a “reiteration” of several similar orders passed since the mid-1980s.

On Friday, Congress Leader of Opposition of Gujarat and Jetpur Pavi MLA Sukhram Rathwa, joined local party leaders in Chhota Udepur, including Ranjitsinh Rathwa — son of MLA Mohan Rathwa, in dance and procession to celebrate the ‘victory’ of the members of the community with “Koli” affixed to their Rathwa surnames, who had been agitating to seek recognition as the Rathwa ST community.

The circular of the Additional Secretary of the Tribal Development Department of August 4, 2022, states, “As per the constitutional decision of the government of India of September 6, 1950, to include ‘Rathwa’ community as a Scheduled Tribe, combined with previous letters issued by this (Tribal Development Department) department in the matter, it has been clarified that the Rathwa-Koli community will be considered under the ‘Rathwa’ Scheduled Tribe… As per the directions of the Director of the Tribal Development Department, a clarification has been made to ensure that the Rathwa-Koli community receives the benefits of the Rathwa Scheduled Tribe as far as removing obstacles from their way and education is concerned. Therefore, this is to state that Rathwa, Rathwa-Koli and Koli-Rathwa are to be considered under the Rathwa Scheduled Tribe.”

The circular further states that as per the circulars awarding the Scheduled Tribe certification to Rathwa, Koli Rathwa, and Rathwa Koli communities of July 14, 1982 and also December 20, 1986, the words Rathwa-Koli and Koli-Rathwa have been “in common use, since many years”.

The circular adds that any individual with Koli Rathwa or Rathwa Koli as the surname applying for an ST caste certificate under the Rathwa list, should be considered for the same after “verifying revenue records and other evidence such as the culture, traditions, religious beliefs, idols, festivals, dressing, dialect, and marriage, in addition to the affidavit filed by the applicant”.

While the circular, which came just ahead of the visit of Kejriwal is, however, a reiteration of the previous orders.

Gujarat Secretary to Tribal Development Department, S Murali Krishna, said, “We have issued a circular on August 4 to reiterate that all members of the tribal Rathwa community, who may have Koli affixed to their surnames are to be issued caste certificates under the Rathwa ST tribe.”

“It is based on previous orders of the department and there is no new directive to issue this letter. The Rathwa community has been notified Scheduled Tribe by the Government of India way back in the 1950s and the state government does not have the power to notify any new Scheduled Tribes… We are simply clarifying that the Rathwa-Koli or Koli-Rathwas are to be considered as Rathwas only and the circular is articulate,” he added.

Krishna added that the need was felt to issue a fresh circular as a reminder of the status of the Koli-Rathwa and Rathwa-Koli individuals as several representatives had been received.

Krishna said, “We have received many representations in recent time, also from political entities. We have issued a circular referring to all previous directives where the Koli-Rathwa community was already considered as part of the Rathwa Tribe.”

Officials added that it was in 2013 when the state government had first decided to issue ST certificates of the Rathwa community to the Rathwa-Koli sect.

A section of tribals from Dahod district have also moved the Gujarat High Court with a PIL challenging the inclusion of the “Kolis” under the Rathwa ST list citing that “all circulars conferred by the state government should be held invalid as the Koli community does not follow tribal cultures and is listed as OBC anyway.”