Give ST status to Banjara community, says NCP's Dhananjay Munde

Nationalist Congress Party leader Dhananjay Munde on Monday said the Banjara community should be given Scheduled Tribe status in Maharashtra like some other states.

He was addressing a rally held in Beed by the community seeking ST status under the Hyderabad Gazette, which leaders claimed is being used to give Kunbi certificates to Marathas following the agitation by activist Manoj Jarange.

The Banjara community is part of the Vimukta Jati and Nomadic Tribes (VJNT) segment in Maharashtra.

''The Maharashtra government should appoint a committee to give ST status to the Banjara community. It is part of the ST segment in many states, including Rajasthan and Telangana,'' said Munde, a former minister who quit in March this year following a furore after his close aide Walmik Karad was held in the Santosh Deshmukh murder case.

He added that he could attend the rally only because he was no longer a minister in the state government.

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