Rajaka community stages protest in Visakhapatnam seeking SC status

Members of the Rajaka community staged a protest at the Gandhi statue near the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation office in Visakhapatnam on Monday demanding inclusion of the community in the Scheduled Castes list.

Organised by the Andhra Pradesh Rajaka SC Sadhana Core Committee, the protesters urged the government to fulfil the promises made by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu before the elections. The committee said Rajakas figure in the SC list in 18 States and three Union Territories.

They demanded a commission on SC inclusion, pension at 50 years of age and a protection law until inclusion. Other demands were 250 units of free power, ownership rights over tanks for the community’s traditional occupation, and ₹250 crore in the annual Budget for the Rajaka Federation for subsidised loans. The committee sought ₹50 crore for new dhobi ghats, their repair and protection of their sites, dhobi posts in hospitals and the Police Department, and subsidised loans of ₹10 lakh for unemployed youth.

K. Satyanarayana, member of the core committee, said: “Around 500 people from the Rajaka community across Visakhapatnam district have participated in the protest. Core committee leaders from across Andhra Pradesh have come together to stage today’s protest. We have been fighting for our rights for decades now. Before every election, there are promises made but never fulfilled. We started our current protest in May, and so far we have organised nine roundtable meetings across Andhra Pradesh, including Eluru, Dachepalli, Chittoor, Anakapalli, Rajamahendravaram and Madanapalle. We would be continuing the agitation in other districts as well.”