Scheduled tribes union against new claimants for ST tag

Nagpur: Scheduled tribes in the country are a very closely knit community and their umbrella body All India Tribal Development Council is quite a rare mix of leaders drawn from different political parties bound by one theme of not allowing entry to fresh claimants to tribal status.
With number of claimants seeking to be included as scheduled tribes on the rise, the Council has decided to display its unity and strength.August 9, also observed as Global Aborigines Day, will be used by the Council to bring all original tribes on one platform and insulate their organization. District level meetings have been organized on that day, council leader Dinesh Madavi told TOI on Thursday.
His father, the late Baburao Madavi was a Congress minister in the state and a respected tribal leader. He held the post of president of the council for 16 years. “Koshti and Mana communities have already started getting benefits of ST and are sharing the reservation pie. There is a scramble among several others like Dhangars, Thakurs, Chhatri, Dhobi communities to get declared themselves as scheduled tribes. They are using the political route by misleading some national parties for the purpose,” said Madavi.
The council believes that all such claims by new entrants are dubious and should not be encouraged by established political parties as it would mean injustice to the existing STs. He said that despite this, some parties were giving false promises just to get electoral gains. “On August 9, it will be the council’s endeavour to alert our members. The council would not trust any political party and will continue to strive to protect its original tribes interests,” said Madavi.
He said STs wield influence in around 80 assembly constituencies in Maharashra, most of them in Vidarbha. “By displaying our unity, we would put political parties on notice that betrayal of original tribes may prove costly,” said Madavi.