“Our community is called by different names in different regions such as Koli, Kabbaliga, Besta, Mogaveera and Ambiga. However, some are in Scheduled Tribes category, while the others remain in Other Backward Classes category. Those in the Scheduled Castes list get better government facilities such as reservation and those in the Other Backward Classes list are deprived of them. I request the Union government to include all the names of the community in the Scheduled Tribes category,” he said. It is a 30-year-old demand to include all the names representing the community in the Scheduled Tribes category.

Source: The Hindu January 06, 2019 20:10 UTC