Dhangar Community

Reference:

The Sudhakar Shinde Committee constituted by the Maharashtra Government to consider the issue of reservation for the Dhangar community has submitted its report to the Maharashtra Government.

About Sudhakar Shinde Committee:

• The Sudhakar Shinde Committee was constituted to study the eligibility of the Dhangar community for grant of Scheduled Tribe (ST) certificate under the existing provisions.
• The Committee was also to study how other State Governments have accommodated Dhangars in their States.
  • The Committee had visited several States before submitting the report.
• The issue of Dhangar reservation in Maharashtra is not new, but this is the first time that this community with a population of more than 1.5 crore in Maharashtra has changed its strategy and claimed that 'Dhangad' should be read as 'Dhangar'.
• So far, several studies have been conducted in Maharashtra regarding the criteria for the Dhangar community to belong to ST.
• The ST list mentions 'Oraon Dhangad' but several committees in the past have concluded that Dhangars do not fit the criteria of ST.

About Dhangar community:

• Dhangars are a community of shepherds. They mainly reside in Maharashtra as well as Gujarat, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
  • They are also known by other names like Golla and Kuruba.
• Dhangars are included in the list of Vimukt and Nomadic Tribes of Maharashtra but for decades they have been demanding ST status.

 Livelihood and Culture:

• As a pastoral community, the Dhangar people have been following certain paths in search of pasture for animals since ancient times.
  • However, in recent decades, their movement in the forests has been restricted due to marking of protected forests by the Forest Department.
• The current population of Dhangars is uncertain in the absence of a caste-based socio-economic survey.
  • It is believed that about 40% of the Dhangar population is entirely dependent on animal husbandry.