BENGALURU/ BELAGAVI: Dozens of Kuruba organisations, including the Karnataka Pradesh Kuruba ST Horata Samiti, have announced a large-scale protest in Belagavi on December 15 to press for the inclusion of the entire Kuruba community into the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category.
Samiti president Siddanna Theji told reporters that around 20,000 members from all 30 districts are expected to participate; Belagavi alone has over 5 lakh Kurubas. “Our only demand is that Kurubas be categorised as Scheduled Tribe across the state,” he said.
Theji highlighted “historical injustice” to the community. “In Kodagu and Bidar districts, Kurubas enjoy ST status and reservation benefits, but in the rest of Karnataka, we remain in the 2A OBC category.
The community is recognised as ST in Maharashtra and Gujarat, and SC in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand,” he added.