MARGAO
Former Deputy Chief Minister and BJP State Vice President Chandrakant (Babu) Kavlekar has expressed confidence that the Dhangar community in Goa will soon be granted Scheduled Tribe (ST) status, though they were left out when the Gawda, Velip and Kunbi communities were recognised in 2003.
Welcoming the recent passing of the ST political reservation bill in the Lok Sabha, Kavlekar thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant, and other leaders for their efforts.
Kavlekar said he had consistently supported political reservation for the ST community and was part of all delegations, including the recent one led by the Chief Minister that met Amit Shah in Delhi. He recalled actively participating in the GAKUVEDH movement and supporting various protests and demands of the ST community.
He mentioned working closely with leaders like the late Babuso Gaonkar, Athon Gaonkar, Durgadas Gaonkar, Ramesh Tawadkar, Govind Shirodkar, and Pandurang Kunkolkar, and holding public meetings across Goa to push for ST status. He noted that the Dhangar community, though excluded in 2003, had still supported the ST recognition of the Gawda, Kunbi and Velip communities.
Kavlekar added that several governments had worked towards granting ST status to the Dhangars and that the matter had been taken up seriously in the last six years under Dr Sawant. Earlier objections by the Registrar General of India have now been addressed through expert reports, he said. “We fully trust that the injustice will be corrected,” he concluded.
