Ponda: Objecting to moves to include Dhangars in Scheduled Tribe (ST) category, president of the United Tribal Association Alliance (UTAA) Prakash Velip on Wednesday demanded keeping the ST tag in Goa limited to the Gauda, Kunbi and Velip communities only.

Voicing his demand during the UTAA’s Karyakarta Melava in Ponda, Velip said inclusion of Dhangars will impact the existing ST communities as their reservation share will get reduced.

On the other hand, the Dhangars, who are traditionally engaged in sheep and cattle grazing in Goa, have been demanding the ST status for them for the past many years and the state government has been making efforts to grant them the tag. In this regard, Goa’s delegation had met the Union leaders recently and had assured Dhangars that they would be included in the ST category.

Stating that a plea, demanding ST status to the Dhangars in Maharashtra, was dismissed by a court in February, Velip said Goa state should not opt for bringing the Dhangars under the stated category.

Meanwhile, he said the cashew farmers in the state are suffering and the government should pay attention to their grievances. He demanded Rs 200 as the minimum support price for the cashew in the state and also called for banning import of the cashew from Africa and Vietnam. He also demanded a geographical indication (GI) tag for the Goan cashew.

He said cashew plantation is the financial base of the ST community in the state, however, reduced output and lowered rates have affected the growers.