Dhangar protesters block roads with sheep in Jalna

Jalna, Oct 1 (PTI) Dhangar protesters on Wednesday blocked roads with flocks of sheep in several parts of Jalna district of central Maharashtra as activist Dipak Borhade continued his fast for a Scheduled Tribe status for the community.

The protest disrupted traffic on Dhule-Solapur road, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar road and other key routes.

Borhade's health condition worsened on Tuesday night, said Jalna tehsildar Chhaya Pawar who met him.

"The medical officer has given IV fluids as his blood pressure has gone down. We requested him to break his fast, but he refused," Pawar told media persons.

Earlier on Tuesday, Borhade criticized Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for failing to issue a Government Resolution (GR) or order and forward the proposal for ST reservation to the President of India through the Governor.

"We had demanded the issuance of a GR and forwarding the proposal to the President. But the chief minister expressed his inability, citing the High Court's decision and the formation of a committee to study the issue. Fadnavis had promised us (reservation) earlier, but he has gone back on his word. He speaks positively, but there is no action," Borhade alleged.

He appealed to community leaders such as MLA Gopichand Padalkar, MLC Madhav Jankar and other elected representatives to mount pressure on the state government.

The Dhangar community, traditionally shepherds, makes up nearly 9 per cent of Maharashtra's population. They get 3.5 per cent reservation under the Nomadic Tribes (NT-C) category within the OBC quota, but have been demanding inclusion in the Scheduled Tribes list for decades. PTI COR KRK