Kurmi Community Protest:
Train services were recently disrupted in Bankura, Purulia and West Midnapore districts of West Bengal following rail-blockade agitation by the Kurmi community.
- Kurmi community is traditionally a non-elite tiller caste in the lower Gangetic plain of India, especially southern regions of Awadh, eastern Uttar Pradesh and parts of Bihar.
- The Kurmis came to be known for their exceptional work ethic, superior tillage and manuring, and gender-neutral culture, bringing praise from Mughal and British administrators alike.
- Currently, in Odisha, West Bengal and Jharkhand, the Kurmi community is classified under the Other Backward Classes group with the Odisha government also recognising the community under the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes.
- State governments in Jharkhand and West Bengal have repeatedly recommended the inclusion of this community in the ST list.
