550 caste certificates distributed

Pune, Oct 10 : Many times Adivasi Community which is away from the mainstream is often deprived of various welfare schemes floated by the Government due to lack of Documents. Adivasi Katkari Community is one such example. In an attempt to bring this community in the mainstream and improve their life, Janjati Kalyan Ashram is undertaking a special drive to help them complete the process of getting the caste certificate with support from city based Rohan Builders. Over 550 individuals from this Adivasi Katkari community, which is classified as the Scheduled Tribe and a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) in Maharashtra was given the Caste Certificate during special ceremony which was held at the Hutatma Nagya Mahadu Katkari Community Development Center, Male Village in Mulshi Taluka of Pune District recently. These caste certificates will now help them to take the benefits of various welfare schemes, to take education and avail healthcare facilities. Sudhir Bhagwat, BDO of Mulshi Taluka, Dr Pravin Dabadghav, Suhas Lunkad and Vartika Bhatewara from Rohan Builders, Prakash Dhoka from the Janjati Kalyan Ashram and Sagar Katkar former member of ZP were present on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion Dr Pravin Dabadghav said, "The Adivasi Katkari Community is known to be patriotic and has contributed in the Hindavi Swaraj battle of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and this tradition was later carried forward by people like Hutatma Nagya Mahadu Katkari. However, this community has been away from the mainstream for a very long time and the Janjati Kalyan Ashram is making an effort for their upliftment. Now, the young boys and girls from the community must take education and come forward to lead a better life and also help improve the living of their community."

Speaking on the occasion Suhas Lunkad said, "Before this we helped over 800 individuals from this Katkai Samaj to get Caste Certificate and Aadhar Cards. Such government documents are required for the identification to help them avail various benefits offered by the government. We are in the process of creating homes for 55 families from this community in the Mugaon village of Mulshi Taluka. Here, we have helped these families from the katkari Community to get the Government Grant of Rs.1.2 Lakhs and the balance amount required for construction work of these houses is being contributed by us. As of now construction work of about 35 homes is complete and remaining ones would be completed by the end of this year."

Sagar Katkar gave the introductory remarks and Mayur Karjatkar played the anchor for the program, stated a press release.