Govt's dilly-dallying tactics irk Dhangar community

Photo Credits: dhangar samaj

Photo caption.

President of the Goa Dhangar Samaj, MLA Babu Kavlekar with members of the community at the Ravindra Bhavan, Margao, on Saturday. Santosh Mirajkar

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When we met the Social Welfare Minister he asked us to get a draft, promising that the government will go by the draft before the RGI. He also asked us to suggest names of those who will be members of the all-party delegation, when the government ought to have done this work. Even then, we suggested a couple of names, but it is indeed sad that the appointment with the RGI has still come till date,"

Babu Kavlekar, MLA and Dhangar Samaj president

Inclusion in ST category

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MARGAO

The Goa Dhangar Samaj on Saturday sounded highly critical over the government’s dilly-dallying tactics in addressing the long pending demand of the community for inclusion of Dhangars in the Scheduled Tribe community.

Saying that their patience is running out, the Samaj has decided to hold a meeting in Panaji to highlight their plight on account of the delay in including Dhangars in the ST category.

A meeting of the community headed by the president, MLA Babu Kavlekar expressed its total unhappiness over the inordinate delay on the part of the Goa government to seek an appointment with the Register General of India to address the issue.

Addressing the meeting, Kavlekar pointed out that successive governments had only paid lip service to the inclusion of Dhangars in the ST list, while saying that the time has come for the community to act and demand their inclusion at the earliest.

Briefing the members on the deliberations held with Social Welfare Minister Mahadev Naik over the last couple of months, Kavlekar lamented that the Goa government has not sought an appointment for an all-party delegation to the Registrar General of India to discuss the issue.

“When we met the Social Welfare Minister he asked us to get a draft, promising that the government will go by the draft before the RGI. He also asked us to suggest names of those who will be members of the all-party delegation, when the government ought to have done this work. Even then, we suggested a couple of names, but it is indeed sad that the appointment with the RGI has still come till date," he said.

Kavlekar also slammed the government for the failure to implement schemes for the Dhangar community. “No doubt, the government had allocated an amount of Rs 2 crore for implementation of welfare schemes for the Dhangar community. Till date, however, the schemes have only remained on paper with the funds remaining unutilised for reasons best known to the government officials," he said.

Members of the Dhangar Samaj, who assembled at the Black Box, Ravindra Bhavan, said the time has indeed come to show the government that the community is totally unhappy with the efforts made for their inclusion in the ST list.