Bhandari Community

In News 

• Recently, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) announced Amit Palekar from Bhandari Community as AAP’s Chief Minister candidate in the upcoming Goa assembly polls 2022.

Who are the Bhandari’s?

• It is Goa’s largest caste group constituting a significant percentage of its Hindu population.
• The Bhandari community’s traditional occupation was toddy-tapping and distilling, farm tilling and working in orchards.
•  It is placed in the Other Backward Class (OBC) category in Goa. 
• The community is spread across Goa and Maharashtra’s Konkan belt including parts of Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg.
• As per the survey of OBCs which was conducted in 2014 by the Goa State Commission for Backward Classes.
  • The population of OBC was 3,58,517 which was 27% of the total population. 
  •  The total number of Bhandari communities is 2,19,052 which constitute 61.10 % among OBC.

Source:IE