Maharashtra: A shepherd’s son wins big for OBCs

Saurabh Hatkar himself wants a a scholarship so he can study at the University of Edinburgh

Thanks to the efforts of Saurabh Hatkar from the shepherds' community, the Maharashtra government has increased the quota of scholarships for OBCs to study abroad. From 50 the seats for OBCs, freed castes, nomadic tribes and Special Backward Class students going for higher education abroad have been increased to 75. The seats were approved in the Vidhan Parishad as announced through the government's information and technology Twitter account recently. Minister of OBC Welfare, Atul Save, also said the decision to include medical education in this will be taken in the Cabinet. Now Hatkar hopes to win his personal battle, that of a scholarship so he can study at the University of Edinburgh.

‘OBCs will benefit'

Countering the argument that seats should be given on merit and not caste, Hatkar, 29, said "Generations of the people talking about merit are educated, but we are fighting for our community's first generation to be educated. A member from the OBC who has an income above R8 lakh per annum cannot by law avail benefits for OBCs. In fact, for the scholarship abroad quota, we as a ‘lower caste' did not have the most seats until this announcement. The system has allowed the ‘upper castes' to enjoy superiority. These reservations will at least help OBCs come out of the shell."

In October 2022 Hatkar collected 12,000 postcards from shepherds in Sangli, Yavatmal and Amravati, etc. with their many demands written on them, including lifting of the colonial 1927 Indian Forest Act that prevents shepherds from taking their livestock to graze in forests. He later met Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in Nagpur and recently the new Dy CM Ajit Pawar at his residence, and they assured him the cabinet will discuss the issue soon.

‘Many still waiting'

During the monsoon assembly session in Vidhan Bhavan, the opposition took the opportunity and introduced the matter of the quota. Congress MLA Abhijeet Wanzari said "injustice" is being done to the pending OBC applications - 140 candidates are awaiting scholarships to study abroad. Kapil Patil, JDU MLC stated that OBCs who consist of more than 50 per cent of the population, even 75 seats is less. But BJP minister in charge of OBC affairs Atul Save claimed when he took the office, seats for the same were only 10, he increased them to 50.

Nevertheless, Hatkar said this is a big win for his community and believes if more people from it study abroad, it will reduce the irrational inferiority complex they face before educated people. "It's not only the seats that I have helped win, it also has reduced the deep rooted guilt that my community is being made to feel. The Forest Department has made my community feel like criminals just for grazing their animals so when they see authorities agreeing to my demands, that reduces," Hatkar said.