Close on the heels of Karnataka government’s decision to recommend to the Centre the inclusion of Kuruba community under the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category, the Madiwala community has urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to consider their long-pending demand for inclusion in the list of Scheduled Castes.
Representatives of the Madiwala community in Mysuru held a press conference on Saturday, July 22, to draw Mr. Siddaramaiah’s attention to the ethnographic study conducted by Prof. Annapurneshwari of University of Mysore that had favoured the community’s inclusion into the list of Scheduled Caste.
President and General Secretary of of Mysuru district Madiwalara Maha Sangha M. Raju and Channakeshava respectively told reporters that their four decade old struggle for inclusion in list of Scheduled Castes led to former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa commissioning an ethnographic study by the University of Mysore Professor Annapurneshwari.
She had submitted a detailed report to the State government recommending the inclusion of Madiwala community in the list of Scheduled Castes.
Expressing gratitude to Mr. Siddaramaiah for announcing the celebration of Machidevara Jayanthi as an official event during his previous term as Chief Minister, the Madiwala community representatives urged the Chief Minister to recommend to the Centre to include Madiwalas in the list of Scheduled Castes.
Arguing that their community was among the most backward in the State, the Madiwala community representatives said the previous governments, on a few occasions, had chosen representatives of their community as members of Legislative Council and Chairperson of Boards and Corporations. A ministerial berth has remained eluded the community till now, they lamented.
Apart from recommending the Centre to include their community in the list of Scheduled Castes, the Mysuru district Madiwalara Maha Sangha representatives urged the State government to establish hostels for students of their community at taluk and district level to facilitate their education.
They also sought construction of Madiwala community halls in each taluk and district of the State, besides mechanising the dhobi ghats in taluks and district of the State.
