Banjaras urge State govt. to reconsider decision on internal reservation

Aurad BJP MLA Prabhu Chavan has urged the State government to ensure justice to the Banjara community as it has been betrayed under internal reservation or face a people’s movement in the next of couple of days.

He was addressing a conference, Banjara Disksoochi Karnataka, Namma Meesalati, Namma Hakku (Our Reservation, Our Right), in Yadgir on Tuesday.

The State government didn’t fully consider the recommendations made by the H.N. Nagmohan Das Committee on internal reservation among Scheduled Castes communities and revised them with a new formula according to its whims, he said.

The State government should reconsider its decision on the distributing formula to benefit the most backward Banjara community for its future generation, he said.

Mr. Chavan appealed to the Banjara community to become a unit to fight against what he called unscientific distribution of reservation.

“The community will show its united struggle through rasta roko and laying a siege to the Deputy Commissioner’s office, until the State government reconsiders the decision,” he said.

The former MP Umesh Jadhav, who also spoke, said that the people of the Banjara community, especially in Yadgir district, are living with no basic facilities.

Banjaras have been forced to migrate to big cities in search of jobs. A large number of community people move to Mumbai and Pune in heavily crowded trains and buses every day, he said.

“The Gurmitkal constituency has seen the highest number of such migrations,” Mr. Jadhav said.

BJP leader Manikanth Rathod said that the Congress has failed to uplift the people of Gurmitkal with concrete programmes and job creation.

Earlier, in the press conference, Shirahatti MLA Chandru Lamani said that the State government has failed to adhere to the recommendations made by the Nagmohan Das Committee on internal reservation and betrayed the Banjara community by snatching its constitutional rights.

“The Nagmohan Das Committee has bifurcated reservation among Scheduled Castes with 6% to Scheduled Castes Left, followed by 5% to Scheduled Castes Right, 4% for Banjara, Koracha, Korama and Bhovi, and 1% each for Nomads and Others. But the State government revised the internal reservation formula with 5.25% each to Scheduled Castes Left and Scheduled Castes Right and 4.5% to Group C (including Bhovi, Lambani, Koracha, Korama and 59 Nomadic/Alemari communities),” Mr. Lamani said.

He pointed out that in the revised formula, the Banjara, Korama, Koracha, Bhovi, and 59 communities have been divided under the 4.5% formula. After this, the Banjara community has automatically lost its reservation share. This is a great injustice to the Banjara community. The State government should reconsider its decision on the revised formula to ensure that the Banjara community gets justice.

Mr. Lamani also said that a people’s movement will be organised by the Banjaras to raise its voice against the injustice meted out to the community by the State government through its unscientific distribution of reservation beneifts.

Community leaders and people from various parts participated in the conference.