The term Vaghadiya has now become a curse for the Bhils, who mostly work as labourers in the construction business or in the brick kilns.

“Members of our community usually settle outside the periphery of the village or town, so we are referred to as Vaghadiya or Vaghaliya. It is true that our ancestors had come from Rajasthan, but that was 200 years ago,” said Kanubhai Asari, a community panch.

“Our children, their fathers and mothers, speak Gujarati and follow similar customs like all other Bhils. Is it fair that while my friends and I have these ST certificates, my son and his sons do not get it?” said Vithal, who wants his son to study engineering.

“My father did not know that the Scheduled Tribes certificate will be so important. When I passed my Class XII examination, I applied and got the certificate so that we could avail some benefits in the ration card and other things. But I did not study further. Today, there are seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes in higher educational institutions. With such a good percentage, my son would have also qualified for scholarship,” added Vithal.

Incidentally, two of Jigar’s cousins managed to get the caste certificate in 1996 and 1999. Not just cousins, but even in the case of siblings, there have been several instances where the elder brother or sister got the caste certificate, but the younger siblings who applied after 2008, were refused the same.

For instance, Payal Pandor, who secured 74 per cent in the SSC exams in humanities this year, was refused a caste certificate, while, her brother, Pusharat, a school dropout working as labourer, along with his father, has a certificate.

... contd.