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Journalism of Courage
The maldharis (a herdsmen community) of Gir, Barda and Alech forests in Saurashtra will hold a mega sammelan at Panidhra village of Junagadh Friday after the state government stopped issuing caste certificates to the Rabari, Bharwad and Gadhvi communities that have been identified as Scheduled Tribes (ST).
“Due to protests by some tribal groups of the eastern Gujarat belt, the state government stopped issuing certificates certifying Rabaris, Bharwads and Gadhvis of Gir, Barda and Alech forests as ST from February, 2020. Consequently, appointment of around 300 members of these communities who have been selected for various government posts has been stalled as the government is not verifying their caste certificates. Not only that, for want of caste certificates, our children are not able to avail benefit of reservation in admission to Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas and institutes of higher education,” Pankaj Rabari, a leader of the Rabari community, said.
After a long-drawn survey and administrative process, the state government had recognised the three maldhari communities living in the forest as ST and had started issuing ST certificates since 2006.
However, groups of tribals of the eastern Gujarat started protesting against the ST certificates to the maldharis after some candidates from these communities were selected for the state government service through the Gujarat Public Service Commission in 2017. As the protests continued, the state government issued a circular in February, 2020, directing district collectors not to issue any new caste certificate to Gir, Barda and Alech maldharis on the basis of Maswadi and Vigatdarshak Card (VDC).
After directing collectors to stop issuing new caste certificates to Rabaris, Bharvads and Gadhvis, the state government constituted a seven-member committee headed by Justice (retired) DG Karia, a retired judge of Gujarat High Court in August, 2020. The committee was tasked to ascertain and identify descendants of Rabari, Bharvad and Gadhvi families who were living inside Gir, Barda and Alech as of October 29, 2016, and was asked to submit its report within three months. However, after at least three extensions, the committee has not submitted its report.
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