Others feel Maratis better off compared to any other ST community
As the majority of the community members are settled in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Kodagu in Karnataka and Kasargod in Kerala, their different communal status in neighbouring states had thrown up umpteen challenges. (Photo: DC/File)
KOZHIKODE: April 28, 2014 marked the end of a 12-year-long ordeal of Marati community, who had struggled as Other Eligibility Community (OEC) in Kerala and Scheduled Tribe (ST) in Karnataka. On that day, the Kerala government reinducted Maratis into the ST list after unrelenting protests of more than a decade.
As the majority of the community members are settled in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Kodagu in Karnataka and Kasargod in Kerala, their different communal status in neighbouring states had thrown up umpteen challenges.
“As we live across the border and inter-state marriages are common, the social condition upset our lives. A Marati girl born and brought up in Mangalore with ST status suddenly was bracketed with OEC after she is married off to Kasargod. The reverse also happened, throwing up numerous legal problems regarding education and employment,” said president of Kerala Marati Samrakshana Samithi (KMSS), K. Shyam Prasad Naika.
The Maratis, whose roots can be traced to Maharashtra, had been enjoying ST status in both the states since independence. But in 2002, KIRTADS (Kerala institute for research training and development studies of scheduled castes and tribes) recommended to the government that Maratis no longer suffered from primitiveness and isolation, the two distinct criteria to decide the status. Following this, they were put in the OEC list which enabled them to avail of only educational scholarship up to SSLC.
But other ST communities viz Koragas, Malavettuva, Mavila and Jogi were up in arms against the reinduction of Maratis. Their contention was that Maratis were better off compared to any other ST communities with a sizable number serving as doctors, engineers, banking professionals and police personnel.
They rue that now all ST reservation benefits will be amassed by Maratis as they are more educated. “Maratis are descendants of those who lived on temple premises. They have nothing to do with tribal life or culture,” said Adivasi Dalit Munneta Samiti state president Sriraman Koyyon. There are 50,000 Maratis in Kasargod and about three lakh in Karnataka.
( Source : dc )
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