The Madiwala community, which has been seeking inclusion in the list of Scheduled Castes, staged a dharna in front of Deputy Commissioner’s office in Mysuru on Monday to press for their demand.
The dharna comes in the midst of the ongoing campaigns by different communities, including Kurubas and Panchamashali Lingayats, for reservation.
Prashant S.J., leader of the Mysuru District Struggle Committee for inclusion of Madiwalas in SC, said the dharna on Monday was a symbolic protest seeking to draw the attention of the government.
Representatives from the community from neighbouring districts and Bengaluru also had joined the protest, he said.
In the coming days, the Madiwalas will organise similar dharnas at taluk levels. In Mysuru district, such demonstrations will be held at all taluk headquarters, Mr. Prashant said. The committee is also chalking out a programme to take out a padyatra to Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru and the date will be finalised shortly.
The agitation was preceded by a meeting of the community leaders about three weeks ago in Mysuru under the leadership of Madiwala Gurupeetha seer Basava Machideva Swami from Chitradurga.
Mr. Prashant claimed that Madiwalas were already part of Scheduled Castes in 18 States. However in Karnataka, the community figures in the 2A category along with over 100 other castes, which has deprived them of reservation benefits.
Though a study, commissioned by the State government and carried out by Annapoorneshwari of University of Mysore, had submitted a report favouring their inclusion in the list of Scheduled Castes in 2007-08, the government was yet to forward the recommendation to the Centre.
According to Mr. Prashant, a study in 2007 revealed that the community comprised about 9 lakh members in Karnataka, a figure that may now have gone up to around 12 to 13 lakh, he said.
The community’s demand for inclusion in Scheduled Castes is pending for almost 40 years now, he said.
The community, which is relatively small compared to other castes, does not have any political representation with no MLA or Minister belonging to the community.
