Dhangar Scheduled tribe issue - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Dhangar caste is primarily located in the Indian state of Maharashtra...

Maharashtra

Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...

has been agitating for the implementation of Scheduled Tribe status. According to them Dhangar and Dhangad is one and the same and Dhangar community is included in the List of Scheduled Tribes in India#Maharashtra at Sr. no 36 Oraon

Oraon

The Oraon उरांव or Kurukh कुड़ुख tribe , also spelled Uraon, Oran, or Oram, are tribal aborigines inhabiting various states across central and eastern India as well as Bangladesh...

, Dhangad. The only community present in the state is Dhangar that can be spelt as Dhangad and pronounced as Dhangar. There is no such community called Dhangad present in Maharashtra. The ethnological and anthropological information of Dhangad and Dhangar given in the reports is same which is of Shepherds. That is both the words mean a same single community which is Shepherds of Maharashtra. State of Maharashtra had twice recommended the Government of India

Government of India

The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...

to include the Dhangar community in the list of Scheduled Tribe. Even in 1989, the CAG report recommended the inclusion of Dhangar community in the list of Scheduled Tribe.

However, the State of Maharashtra has not implemented the Scheduled Tribe status as according to them Dhangar and Dhangad are two distinct communities of Maharashtra.

Time line

Year	Details
1872	The Government published Colonel Dalton’s Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal. The book states that Dhangars are known as Oraon Oraon The Oraon उरांव or Kurukh कुड़ुख tribe , also spelled Uraon, Oran, or Oram, are tribal aborigines inhabiting various states across central and eastern India as well as Bangladesh... in the Eastern Part of India and that Oraons migrated from western India.
1883	The Hindi Hindi Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi... book, Bharat Bhraman, Vol IV, Chap 18 & 19 from Pg 291 states the population of Dhangars. It uses different pronunciations and spellings for the same word e.g. The population of Dhangar (Hindi: ) in Dharwad 87568, Dhangad (Hindi: ) in Kolhapur 38326, Dhangar (Hindi: ) in Satara 41547, Dhangar (Hindi: ) in Nashik 14889.
1896	Mr Grieson, in charge of Census, undertook The Linguistic and Ethnographic Survey.
1901	Shahu Maharaj Shahu Maharaj Shahu IV was the first Maharaja of the Indian princely state of Kolhapur between 1894 and 1922... introduces reservations in Maharashtra Maharashtra Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India... .
1901	Mr. Grieson wrote a chapter on languages in India in the Census report.
1920	In the linguistic survey of India Vol I Part II Grieson classified Indian Languages. He stated that ‘R’ is pronounced as ‘D’ and ‘L’. E.g. Orrisa in English and Orissa in Hindi, Beed – Bhir, Chopda – Chopra, Tiwari – Tiwadi, Dhangar - Dhangad.
1928	As per a Committee recommendation, depressed classes included other wandering and backward classes.
29-05-1933	As per the recommendations of the committee list of Backward Committee was prescribed under Government Resolution General Department No 9330 of 29 May 1933.
23/4/1942	Communities in the State of Bombay Classified into Advanced, Intermediate and Backward Classes under Government Resolution Political and Services Department No 1673/34 dated 23/4/1942.
15/08/1947	India gains freedom.
26/1/1950	Constitution of India Constitution of India The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India. It lays down the framework defining fundamental political principles, establishes the structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions, and sets out fundamental rights, directive principles, and the duties of citizens... comes in force.
6/9/50	List of Scheduled Tribes published by the Government of India.
1955	BCC report states that the age-old definition of Tribes should be shed.
1955	Kalelkar Commission Kalelkar Commission First Backward Classes Commission, 1955 or the Kaka Kalelkar CommissionAdhering to Article 340 of the Constitution of India, the First Backward Classes Commission was set up by a presidential order on 29 January 1953 under the chairmanship of Kaka Kalelkar.... report stated that the communities of shepherd class in many states were engaged in rearing large flocks of sheep. Gaddis of Himachal Pradesh, Gadarieas of North Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, Dhangars in Bombay were mainly engaged in sheep flocks. Shepherds are known by different names in different parts of country. Their condition is far from satisfactory. (Vol I, pg 77) The Dhangar community was regarded as most backward (* Starred community) and was recommended to be included in Schedule Tribes. It found its place in Sr. No. 36 in the list of Schedule Tribes in Maharashtra. In other states too it was included in the Schedules.
1956	State of Madhya Pradesh came into existence.
1956	Scheduled Tribe list amended as per the recommendations of Kalelkar report. The Scheduled Tribes list of the then Madhya Pradesh at Sr. no 26 listed Dhangad without referring to any particular district or tehsil which means that Dhangad from all of the present Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisghar and some part of present Maharashtra were meant to be Scheduled Tribe. The Scheduled Tribes List of the then Bombay (Now Maharashtra) at Sr. no 27 listed Dhangad, Oraon without referring to any area which means Dhangads of whole of the Bombay State were meant to be Scheduled Tribe.
10/9/1956	The Law minister of India assured the House that the mistakes in the list of SC and ST will be rectified.
1/5/1960	State of Gujarat and Maharashtra came into existence. List of Scheduled Tribes of Maharashtra shows Dhangad at Sr. no 27. At the relevant time the only community present in the new state is Dhangar. There is no other community called Dhangad present in Maharashtra.
1961	Ethnographic study was undertaken by the census department to identify the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes as a frequent problem was faced for identifying the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The Census enumerators required guidance about the acceptance or rejections of their claims. The department of census of India undertook a detailed ethnographic study in respect of Scheduled Tribes in 1961 under the powers delegated by the Parliament for an authentic ethnographic account of Indian communities and to meet the requirements of the Socio-legal issues relating to ethnic identity of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
1961	The Ethnographic report and the Bibliography of Scheduled Tribes published by the Government of India. It mentions Dhangar, Dhangad as the Scheduled Tribe in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. The ethnological and anthropological information of Dhangad and Dhangar given in the report is same which is of Shepherds. That is both the words mean a same single community which is Shepherds of Maharashtra.
21/11/1961	Unified list of VJNT prepared for the state of Maharashtra as per the Thade Committee Report.
11/1/1964	B G Deshmukh committee submitted its report to the state government and proposed that the backward classes should be grouped into Schedules Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Denotified & Nomadic Tribes and Other Backward Classes.
1965	B. N. Lokur Committee advised the Government of India to delete Oroan from the list of Scheduled Tribe of Maharashtra as it is not found in Maharashtra but it did not suggest the same for Dhangad.
1966	Chanda Committee appointed to remove anomalies in the list.
20/06/1966	State of Maharashtra recommends the Government of India to include Dhangar community in the list of Scheduled Tribe.
1967	Report, bibliography on SC/ST and marginal communities published by census department which includes Dhangar, Dhangad as a Scheduled Tribe in Maharashtra.
13/10/1966	List of OBC prepared by the State of Maharashtra to give scholarships.
20/06/1967	MLA Ganpatrao Deshmukh asks the state in the assembly what steps it was taking regarding the Dhangar communities ST status.
1967	Advisory committee report asks the government to remove anomalies.
1967	Scheduled Tribe amendment bill lapsed.
1968	Bibliography on SC and ST and marginal tribes published by the Government of India in 1968. See pg 294. It states Dhangar as a Scheduled Tribe in Maharashtra.
1970	The census report shows the population of Dhangad in Maharashtra as 1 (one).
1976	The Scheduled Tribe list amended. The Scheduled Tribe list of Maharashtra Listed Dhangad at Sr. No 36 by putting a punctuation mark of comma after Oraon without mentioning any particular area. (36. Oraon, Dhangad.) There is no community called Dhangad present in the state of Maharashtra and not a single person of this so called community is found. The community present in the State of Maharashtra is Dhangar that is pronounced and spelt as Dhangad in Hindi. There are no two distinct communities called Dhangar and Dhangad present in the state of Maharashtra.
22/03/1977	The Union of India removed the area restriction.
1978	Report of the Commissioner for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes revealed that the State Government did not have the power to impose area restriction on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in their State.
1978	The Government laid the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (amendment) Bill 1978 but as the Sixth Loksabha dissolved the bill too lapsed.
26/03/1978	Government of Maharashtra again recommends the Government of India to include the Dhangar community in the list of Scheduled Tribes
1979	Mandal Commission regarded Dhangad and Dhangar one and the same.
1981	L.M. Shrikant report recommends the center remove the anomalies in the SC and ST list
9/2/1981	The center ask the State whether Dhangar should be included in the list of Scheduled Tribe and to reply before 7/3/1981. It further stated if no reply is received by then it will be deemed that the state has accepted it. The Government of India has the following criteria for inclusion in the list of Scheduled Tribes i.e. indication of primitive traits, distinct culture, geographical isolation and shyness of contact with the community at large and backwardness. The state does not reply by 7/3/81.
6/11/1981	The State of Maharashtra withdraws the proposal of inclusion of Dhangar Community in the list of Scheduled Tribes.
1982	Bibliography on SC and ST and marginal tribes published by the Government of India that shows Dhangar as a Scheduled Tribe in Maharashtra.
8/9/1982	MLA Chimanrao Kadam states in the assembly that the Mandal Commission Mandal commission The Mandal Commission was established in India in 1979 by the Janata Party government under Prime Minister Morarji Desai with a mandate to "identify the socially or educationally backward." It was headed by Indian parliamentarian Bindheshwari Prasad Mandal to consider the question of seat... states that Dhangad and Dhangar are the same.
8/9/82	The Tribal Research and Training Centre Pune issued a circular for the guidance of competent authorities to issue caste certificates. The circular stated that Dhangads were a Scheduled Tribe only in the eight districts of Vidharbha region.
1983	The circular was challenged in WP 1110/83 on the ground that the state government had no powers to impose area restrictions for issuing Caste Certificates as the Parliament had removed the area restrictions in 1977. The State Government filed an affidavit and stated that the circular dated 8/9/82 was withdrawn on 24/3/83. The withdrawal order was not circulated by the State Government to the concerned officers who issue caste certificates for three years for reason best known by them.
24/4/85	The state government again issued a similar circular. The circular stated that people of Dhangar community deceive the government by producing false certificates as Dhangad. The circular further stated that Dhangads are found only in the District of Gadchiroli.

16/12/1986.	Assistant Director states that Dhangad and Dhangar may be one and the same.
28/04/1989	CAG report recommends the inclusion of Dhangar community in the list of Scheduled Tribe.
06/09/1989	The Government of India states in a letter that Dhangar is already included in the list of Scheduled Tribe and the census of Oraon, Dhangad and Dhangar is already carried out.
22/12/1989	MP Mrs Suryakanta Patil asks whether Dhangar is included in the list of Scheduled Tribe. The minister replies that Dhangar of Maharashtra is already included in the list of Scheduled Tribe and Dhangar and Dhangad is considered the same.
1989	Dhangars in the state of Maharashtra agitate for the ST status. PM Rajiv Gandhi accepts their demands.
25/5/1990	Sharad Pawar lead State Government included the Nomadic or wandering Shepherd Class i.e. Dhangar Community in the list of Nomadic Tribe with 3.5% reservation by depriving them the ST status. Creamy layer excluded.
23/3/1994	NT List amended.
1994	Kumbi and Kunbi regarded as one and the same.
23/11/95	The then Chief Minister Manohar Joshi declared at Nagpur that the circular dated 24/4/1985 was withdrawn.
19/5/1995	The State Backward Class Commission (Khatri Commission) was formed.
13/06/1995	The State of Maharashtra prepares the list of Special Backward Class.
12/7/96	The Government of Maharashtra (Revenue and Forest Department) publishes a notification under Bombay Court fees Act 1959 in the Gazette in which the list of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe is given. The Marathi version of the Scheduled Tribes uses the word ‘Dhangar’ and the English version ‘Dhangad’. This shows that the letters ‘R’ and ‘D’ are interchangeable and both the words mean the same.
6/11/97	The State of Maharashtra issued notification in leading news papers appealing the public to send information about the communities that were included in the guide lines issued by Tribal development department Bombay dated 24/4/85 by ignoring the Ethnographic reports and Bibliographies published by the Government of India.
12/11/1998	As per the recommendations of Khatri Commission, Mutatkar Commission, Edate Commission list of VJNT and OBC’s was amended.
27/10/1999	The list of OBC of the State of Maharashtra amended.
1/1/2001	The list of OBC of the State of Maharashtra amended.
14/02/2001	The list of VJNT of the State of Maharashtra amended.
19/3/2001	The Government of Maharashtra (Revenue and Forest Department) again publishes a notification under Bombay Court fees Act 1959 in the Gazette in which the list of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe is given. The Marathi version of the Scheduled Tribes uses the word ‘Dhangar’ and the English version ‘Dhangad’. This shows that the letters ‘R’ and ‘D’ are interchangeable and both the words mean the same.
29/05/2001	The Backward Class Commission (Khatri Commission ) formed.
31/03/2002	The Venkatachaliah Commission on the review of the working of the Constitution submits its report. The commission makes recommendations for Nomadic tribes. The report states that the continued plight of the Denotified tribes, semi-nomadic and nomadic tribes who are distributed in the list of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward class is an eloquent illustration of the failure of the machinery of planning, financial resources allocating budgeting and administration in the country to seriously follow the mandate of Art. 46. The report further states that the adequate representation of backward classes is, however, still a far cry and special efforts need to be made for effectively enforcing reservation of backward classes to achieve their adequate representation.
2/8/2002	MP Pradeep Rawat tells the house that there is a spelling mistake in the word Dhangad in the list of Scheduled Tribe and the word must be Dhangar. The minister replies that there is no spelling mistake.
/12/2002	The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Orders (Second Amendment) Bill, 2002. Twenty- Seventh Report. Standing Committee on labour and Welfare (2002) (13th Loksabha), Ministry of Tribal Welfares observed in its report that the Ministry should review/revise the criteria for identifying the tribes and the modalities. 2.36 The Committee noted that there are various communities which are synonyms to each other but have not been included in the present Bill. For example in the case of ‘Dhangad’ and ‘Dhangar’ communities of Maharashtra which are similar to each other but the State Government have rejected their claim stating that ‘Dhangad’ and ‘Dhangar’ are two distinct communities having no ethnic affinity. The Committee are of the opinion that if a community have the similar characteristics, their claims should not be rejected on the flimsy grounds like involving correction in the spelling of certain tribes. The Committee, therefore, recommends that the Ministry should take up the matter with the State Government to remove the anomaly in the nomenclature of these communities. The committee observed that as the State of Maharashtra has not made any recommendations of the Dhangar community they are not included in the amended list.
2002	The Scheduled Tribe list amended. Dhangar/Dhangad included in the list of MP at sr.no. 35, Bihar- 26, Orissa – 53, WB – 33, Chatisghar – 33, Jharkhand – 25. Already in Maharashtra at sr.no. 36.
22/1/2004	PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee declares in a rally at Pandharpur that if BJP lead NDA comes to power it would give ST status to Dhangar community as per the National Commission for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes National Commission for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes The National Commission for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes is a national commission set under Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India, to study various developmental aspects of denotified and nomadic or semi-nomadic tribes in India.The Commission was first was... which was newly set up on 22/11/2003. However, the community expected assurance of ST status implementation.
26/02/2004	Daily Maharashtra Times (Mumbai Mahanagar edition) reports that the State of Maharashtra has recommended the inclusion of De-notified Tribes in the list of SC and Nomadic Tribes in the list of Scheduled Tribe
1/06/2004	The list of OBC and NT amended.
6/9/2004	The State of Maharashtra recommends the inclusion of Dhangar community in the list of "Third Schedule".
12/07/2005
6/2/2006	The National Commission for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes National Commission for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes The National Commission for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes is a national commission set under Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India, to study various developmental aspects of denotified and nomadic or semi-nomadic tribes in India.The Commission was first was... reconstituted on 14/3/2005 assumed its functioning w.e.f. 6th Feb, 2006. Mr. Balkrishna Renke appointed as the Chairman.
1/3/2006	OBC, SBC, VJNT lists amended. (Total castes and sub-castes OBC- 291, SBC – 41, VJ – 16, NT – 37, SC – 59, ST – 47.)
13/09/2006	Agarwal committee constituted by the State of Maharashtra.
21/11/2006
1/5/2007	All India Dhangar Samaj starts Hunger Strike at Latur. One of them, Mr. Gunaji Mhatre goes missing from the venue of Strike and is not yet found. Complaint filed.
10/6/2007	VJNT and SBC Emp and Officers association formed.
9/8/2007 & 17/09/2007	All India Dhangar Samaj Mahasangh made representations to State Government and Central Government for implementation of Scheduled Tribe status.
13/10/2007	Renke Commission submitted its interim report on the status of some 500 De-notified tribes who make up to 12 crore population scattered across India. Final report likely to be submitted in July 2008.
28/4/2008	Madhya Pradesh sends proposal to the Government of India for inclusion of Dhangar community in the list of Scheduled Tribe.
5/5/2008	All India Dhangar Association finishes the Hunger Strike at Mumbai by taking a rally on Mantralaya on the Birth anniversary of Karl Marx.
14/05/2008	In response to the Strike the Government of Maharashtra replies that the Government of India has included the Dhangar tribe in the List of Scheduled Tribes and that Dhangar Caste is included in the list of Nomadic Tribes by the Government of Maharashtra. That there is no spelling mistake in Dhangad and that Dhangar caste does not fulfill the criteria as laid down by the central government.
27/05/2008	Leaders of Dhangar community across all political parties arrange massive rally at Mumbai for their demands.
12/06/2008	List of OBC, DTNT amended by the Government of Maharashtra.
18/06/2008	Agarwal Commission records evidence of Dhangar community’s delegation.
02/07/2008	Renke Commission submitted its report.
28/08/2008	The CM declares to constitute a new commission headed by a Retd. High Court Judge which would submit its report within a time bond period at the earliest.
26/08/2010	Shri Devji M. Patel in parliament stated regarding need to implement the recommendations of Renke Commission report on Denotified, Nomadic and Semi Nomadic Tribes. (source by - Nitin Gawade)

Source

Prof. Kokane P. N., Socio-Legal Identification of Scheduled Castes/Tribes & Backward Classes, 2007.

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Time line

See also

Source