The Congress government led by Siddaramaiah will make all efforts to bring Koli Kabbaliga communities to the mainstream, Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi said in Belagavi on Sunday.
Speaking at the Ambigara Choudaiah Jayanti celebrations, the district in-charge Minister said that the State government has launched several development and welfare programmes for various backward classes, including the Koli-Kabbaliga communities. These programmes include a development corporation to provide financial assistance.
“The State government has already forwarded to the Union government a recommendation to include Koli- Kabbaliga and other synonymous communities in the Scheduled Tribes list. It is now left to the Centre to decide on this,” he said.
He urged all members of the community to study the Vachana writings of Choudaiah and implement his principles of equal opportunity, division of labour and distribution of wealth.
The demand of the community for inclusion in the Scheduled Tribes list is justified, Minister Lakshmi Hebbalkar said.
“The community remains socially and educationally backward. Now that the country’s population has increased to over 140 crore, the population of various communities has increased. Several communities are demanding inclusion of their names in the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes lists and re-categorisation among OBCs. Even my own community of Panchamasalis is demanding a shift to 2A category. All these are justified,” she said.
BJP MLC N. Ravi Kumar said that the State government has the responsibility of providing all relevant information and documents sought by the Union government to enable it to include 39 communities with synonymous names in the Scheduled Tribes list.
Member of Legislative Council Sabanna Talwar said that the term Besta was included among Scheduled Tribes in 1956. However, no agitations were carried out to include synonymous communities in the list due to lack of awareness, he added.
Folk artists took out a procession before the event.
Sri Shantabheeshma Choudaiah Swamy of Nija Sharana Ambigara Choudaiah Naraseepur Math, Member of Legislative Assembly Asif (Raju) Sait, Member of Legislative Council Pradeep Shettar, Deputy Commissioner Nitesh Patil, City Corporation Commissioner Ashok Dudagunti, Deputy Director of Kannada and Culture Vidyavathi Bhajantri, District Koli-Kabbaliga Community Association president Dilip Kurundwade and others were present.
