Maharashtra deputy speaker, tribal MLAs jump onto safety net at Mantralaya

Several tribal MLAs, led by Maharashtra assembly deputy speaker Narhari Jhirwal, protesting against the Dhangar community's demand for inclusion in the Scheduled Caste category jumped from the third floor of the Maharashtra Mantralaya onto a safety net.

The MLAs jumped onto the second-floor safety net of the Mantralaya quadrangle, threatening to stage a sit-in protest.

The legislators are demanding a meeting with chief minister Eknath Shinde to address their long-standing issues. A contingent of police, including additional commissioner of police (South) Abhinav Deshmukh, deputy commissioner of police Zone 1 Pravin Mundhe and deputy commissioner of Mantralaya security Prashant Pardeshi intervened to remove them.

The legislators were seeking immediate attention from chief minister Shinde, who was in a cabinet meeting.

In the run up to the state assembly elections, the demand by the Dhangar (shepherds) community for category change in reservation is gaining momentum, posing a big challenge for the Eknath Shinde government.

At present, the community is part of the Nomadic Tribes (NT) category under which they are getting reservation benefits in government jobs and education up to 3.5%. Inclusion in the ST category will increase their reservation quota to 7%.

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In August, an SC bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud had permitted states to create sub-classifications within the SC and ST categories for the purpose of protecting, through fixed sub-quotas, the most backward communities within these categories.

Six people from the Dhangar community—Deepak Borate, Yogesh Dharam, Vijay Tamnar, Mauli Harnawal, Ganesh Keskar, and Yashwant Gayke—have been on an indefinite hunger strike in Pandharpur from September 9.

As prime minister Narendra Modi was on a Maharashtra tour recently, chief minister Eknath Shinde had asked his close aide, excise minister Shambhuraj Desai to meet the delegations of the three communities and listen to their demands.

Dhangar community leader from the BJP had announced that there would be a statewide Rasta Roko.