131-Kilometer Foot Rally: Gujarat’s Tribal Community Marches for Justice

Banaskantha | Gujarat —  : In Gujarat, tens of thousands of tribal youth and farmers are not getting government benefits and jobs due to the non-issuance of caste certificates for the last three years. Now, the tribal community has started a 131-kilometer foot rally from Palanpur in Banaskantha to Gandhinagar to press for their various demands including the issue of caste certificate. 

Ishwarbhai Damor said that our main demands are that farmers and students get caste certificates, so that the pending job orders of youth, who have already got government jobs be given immediately and that this problem be resolved as soon as possible.

The tribal community has started a 131-kilometer walk from Palanpur to Gandhinagar. They will present their demands to the Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel after reaching Gandhinagar. Congress workers including Danta MLA Kanti Kharadi have also joined this rally. They have threatened to stage a sit-in if justice is not provided even after reaching Gandhinagar.

Educated boys jobless: MLA

Data MLA Kanti Kharadi said that despite making representations at the district level for a long time, there has been no solution to the problem of caste certificates. Educated boys are jobless due to discrimination. Since there is no solution to the problem at the local level, we have started a foot rally to Gandhinagar.

Tribal community leader Ishwar Damor said that for the last three-four years, written representations have been made to local officials, office bearers, Mamlatdars, Collectors, Ministers, Chief Minister and Governor to remove the hassles of obtaining caste certificates, but the government has not brought any amicable solution till date. Government job orders of youth who have passed the examination after working hard for three years have been withheld in the name of caste verification.

Damor further said that the officials of the analysis committee are canceling the certificate by finding out small and big grammatical errors, to prevent the tribal students from getting jobs, which is condemnable. “I feel that the system and the officials of the committee are working towards preventing the youth from getting government jobs. Despite repeated applications, no solution was found, so we were forced to organise foot rally with the leaders and youth of the entire area”