Confusion mars Goa's ST list

| 10 July 2002 21:46 IST

The centre is all set to introduce new communities in the scheduled tribe list, in the coming monsoon session. But Goa has a problem.

While accepting long-pending demand of the tiny state, the central authorities have created enough confusion over inclusion of the four communities in the ST list.

The demand has been to include Gawda, Kunbi, Velip and Dhangar communities in the ST list. They are presently recognised as the OBC communities.

While the Dhangar community is still being left out, the words used for the rest of the three communities has created the confusion. It is being listed as the Kunbi, Kunbi Gawda and Kunbi Velip.

Dr Kashinath Jalmi, former minister and leader of the organisation pressing for these demands, has pointed out these flaws after returning from his recent Delhi visit. "Rather than solving it, this will complicate the problem further", he observes.

Chief minister Manohar Parrikar has however demanded to change the wordings to its original before the bill is presented in the Parliament. He met union tribal affairs minister Jual Oram last week in this regard.

But Jalmi wonders whether alterations could be made at the ministerial level while none of the authorities know at what stage these changes were made and what is the reason behind it.

Similarly, the BJP chief minister has also pressed for the inclusion of the Dhangar community, though it was deliberately kept out earlier. The central authorities fear that one such inclusion would prompt all other states to include their respective Dhangar community in the ST list.

As the revision is taking place in the country first time in the last 50 years, several big states are desperately awaiting introduction of the bill as fast as possible. On the other hand, to meet Goa demand, the whole procedure may have to be followed once again, delaying introduction of the bill.

At the same time, Goa is one of the few states that is being ruled by the BJP and the first one that has come to power after the Gujarat carnage. Since the demand of including four communities was one of the major election assurance of the BJP, the party at the centre may however take it seriously, even at the cost of postponement of the introduction of the bill.

Besides around 1.10 lakh Gawda population (both Hindu and Christian) in Goa, the Kunbi and Velip comprise around 20,000 each while the Dhangar community would comprise only around 5000. The new ST communities thus comprise almost 12 per cent of Goa's total population.

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