Following the Maratha agitation for reservation in Maharashtra, the Dhangar community's demand for ST status has also gained momentum.

Who are the Dhangars?

• Dhangars are a shepherd community who live mostly in Western Maharashtra and Marathwada.
• They make up about a crore of Maharashtra’s roughly 11.25 crore population (9%).
• They do play a key role in election outcomes of the state’s Lok Sabha and Assembly seats.
• The four LS seats regions are Baramati, Madha, Solapur, and Satara.

What is their demand?

• Dhangars are currently on the list of Vimukta Jati and Nomadic Tribes (VJNT) in Maharashtra.
• However, they have been demanding Scheduled Tribe (ST) status for the past several decades.
• They claim that Dhangars in Maharashtra are the same as those who are called “Dhangad” elsewhere in the country.
• Notably “Dhangad” are listed as a Scheduled Tribe.
• It is said that a typographical error had led to the community’s name being recorded as “Dhangar”.
• Reservation - Maharashtra has 52% reservation in all.
• In this, SCs and STs have 13% and 7% respectively, and OBCs have 19%.
• The Vimukta Jati/Denotified Tribes, Special Backward Class, and Nomadic Tribes together have 13%.
• Dhangars are, notably, a ‘Nomadic Tribe’.

What is the government's stand?

• The state had in 2015 got the assistance of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) in this regard.
• TISS was asked to establish whether Dhangars meet the criteria to be identified as ST.
• In effect, this meant establishing whether Dhangars were the same as Dhangads.
• This is to prevent any future legal challenge to Dhangars being moved from VJNT to ST.
• The TISS study is in an advanced stage and the government too has reiterated it's commitment to the Dhangars.

What is the challenge?

• Almost all parties had, in the last two decades, supported the inclusion of Dhangars in the ST category.
• However, they face the opposition of the Scheduled Tribes (STs).
• STs are unwilling to allow the dilution of their quota by the inclusion of a large community like the Dhangars.
• ST MPs and MLAs have said that Dhangars could be included only if the overall ST quota is increased.