More than 500 members of the Wadar community gathered in Mulund on Sunday to demonstrate in support of their demands for the youth to be given equal access to education and employment.

The community has planned a statewide agitation and awareness drive called “Me Wadar Maharashtracha,” in which the community will be told about their rights and demands.

Babanna Kushalkar, Mumbai president of Me Wadar Maharashtracha, said, “The majority of our community has been into stonemasons, stone cutters, splitters, and carvers since tradition. This government has taken away our jobs from us, and our traditional work is taken over by migrant workers, who are given priority by this government.”

“Whether it is the promenade, road construction, or building construction—even the Raigard fort was built by our community,” he continued, “our community has made significant contributions to the development of this city and Maharashtra for many years, but this government has ignored all of our contributions. All new tenders are mostly given to Gujaratis and Marwadi businesses.”

“The Wadar community has been facing injustice since 1961,” Somanth Dhanawde, organizer and president of the Bhandup region, told Afternoon Voice. “Our caste, which comes under the Vimukta Jati and Nomadic Tribes (VJNT), is deprived of the reservation; our youth are unemployed due to a lack of opportunities given to us.”

Another complaint the community has is that their children are not being admitted to school because “our community is mostly a nomadic tribe, and some people have no proper documentation or ancestral history.” The school and college authorities harass us for basic education needs.”

The organizers have threatened the government with a statewide protest if their demands are not fulfilled.