Spread across a few districts in central Karnataka and a few places in north Karnataka, Dakkaligas are a small community. There are 462 families with a population of about 1,800, as per the private survey conducted by people of the community. A good number of families are in Tumakuru, Chikkaballapura, Chitradurga, Vijayanagara districts.
“There are hardly a few graduates and four government employees from our caste,” says Shantharaju, president of Karnataka Dakkaligara Sangha. He stays at Chikkanayakanahalli in Tumakuru district and runs a tuition centre for students of the community.
The people of the community seek alms from Madiga community people, who are a Dalit ‘left’ caste. “Our families have been allotted places where we can seek alms. We are dependent on Madigas for our livelihood. When we go to their village, they provide us with food for a couple of days. And, in some places, they ask us not to enter their colony,” said Shantaraj.
A majority of the people earn their living by seeking alms. In recent years, youngsters have started to engage themselves in selling plasticwares, brooms and work in fields for daily wages.
The community is one among the 101 castes listed under the Scheduled Caste. Only in recent years have they got any access to education. “There are four government employees in our community. Of them two are teachers and the other two are police constables,” Shantaraj said.
Except for 15 families, none has land to cultivate. A few families in Tumakuru and Doddaballapura have got sites sanctioned to construct houses. However, the families are yet to own the sites due to technical issues in the Revenue Department.
