When Vithal Mangu Parmar, son of a brick kiln worker, Mangu Dada, from Mahudi Faliya on the outskirts of Rampur and Sant, went to Zila Prathamik Vidyalaya for the first time in 1969, his teacher had added ‘Vaghadiya’ to his surname in the register. Before dropping out of school 12 years later, Vithal’s name in the school leaving certificate had a tag — Hindu Bhil— following which he got a caste certificate saying that he belonged to the Scheduled Tribes.

Twenty years later, his son, Jigar, who secured 65 per cent in the Senior Secondary School Examination, filed a similar application for a caste certificate, like what his father had done in 1981, but it was turned down by the Social Welfare Department of Panchmahals district. The community tag of Vaghadiya became the reason for the Department of Social Welfare to shoot down his application along with several other teenagers of the 3,500-strong Vaghadiya community, which is concentrated around Santrampur in the five villages of Harmad Faliya, Mahudi Faliya, Pratappura, Malanpur and Garadia.

Department officials say that all those who cannot prove that they were in Gujarat before 1961 – the year the state came into being – will be considered outsiders and caste certificates will not be issued.

“The officials who have issued these certificates before 2007 are all incorrect, as there is a circular from the Gujarat government that states that such migrant tribes who are not from this state, will not get the benefit of being recognised as Scheduled Tribes,” said Dhani Rathore, the social welfare officer for Santrampur and Kadana talukas.

... contd.