Brahmins to set up women’s co-op, TV channel

Brahmins to set up women’s co-op, TV channel

This small community aims to build pressure in seven states

The Brahmin community in Maharashtra is planning to consolidate itself institutionally to flex its muscles socially and politically. There are plans to start a multi-state credit co-operative, women self-help group, a daily newspaper, news channel, a hospital and deemed university. Pune-based Moreshwar Ghaisas Guruji, who heads the Bahubhashiya Brahmin Nyas, said they were planning to start a multi-state co-operative credit society with a presence in seven states namely Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Goa, Jharkhand and Assam. In the absence of an updated caste census, Brahmins constitute about 3% of Maharashtra’s population, but Ghaisas said the number was around 7% to 8% if one considers Brahmins across linguistic groups. “We need to come together and form a pressure group. We have no identity of our own and need to create it,” said Ghaisas. Ghaisas rued the fact that many communities, except Brahmins, had a presence in educational institutions and co-operatives.