A kingly tribe’s demand, a state government’s refusal

The petition challenging the 1954 resolution has been filed by the NGO Shramik Vikas Sangathan, the Dang “kings” of five erstwhile “states” (Godhvi, Daher, Amalaa, Pimpri and Vasuna), their heirs and nine nayaks or tribal chiefs.

It asserts that the Dangis never surrendered their sovereignty to anyone, and bases its demand on the historical fact that the Dangs was never part of British India and its territory never occupied by any other power. It says the 1954 resolution took away all the rights and privileges of the Dangi chiefs, granting them hereditary political pension instead, and calls it a “unilaterally imposed arrangement by one powerful party on the other illiterate and ignorant one, who did not understand the contents of the so-called agreement”.

It calls the pension “unjust and arbitrary”, fixed on an “ad-hoc basis” in lieu of their ownership rights, and asks for a pension scheme that would restore their dignity.

The Supreme Court asked the government how much it was willing to increase the monetary benefits for the Dangi leaders, following which the government filed the affidavit that will be examined Friday.

The state has claimed that the political pension had not remained static since the 1954 resolution; “it has been revised from time to time, considering the challenges and the inflation trend”. On April 1, 2012, it increased by 25 per cent the political pension paid to “erstwhile” kings, nayaks and bhaubandhs of Dang district, the affidavit says.

It refers to the CM’s 10-point programme that, it contends, ensures sizeable funds for overall development of the people of the district. It adds the total expenditure over the last six years in the district has reached Rs 37,782.20 lakh. The government has also denied the rights of the district’s tribes are being compromised in providing basic amenities, or that it has been drawing large revenue from the properties of the Dangis.

“The details show the continuous and sizeable allocation of funds for economic activities in Dang district. Each and every aspect required for a decent standard of living has been addressed in the budget allocation,” says the affidavit.