HC seeks progress of ‘Maldhari identity’ case

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat high court on Friday asked state govt to show what progress it has made to resolve the peculiar issue being faced by the Maldhari (pastoralist) communities in Saurashtra region, as they are officially recognized agriculturist, but cannot purchase agricultural lands.
The communities’ inability to purchase agricultural land is because they cannot get any certificate from govt that they are Maldharis.The authorities refuse to accept their right of being agriculturists because they cannot establish their identity as Maldharis. This is because the word ‘maldhari’ has not been defined in law books.
A PIL is pending in this regard since 2011 raising the issue of identification of people of Maldhari communities in Saurashtra region so that they can get the benefit of the Saurashtra Gharkhed Ordinance of 1954. During a hearing on Friday, the petitioner’s counsel submitted that state govt had in 2016 constituted a committee. The bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Pranav Trivedi inquired whether any progress has been made in this regard by the committee in these years. tnn