Rift emerges over deadline as govt scrambles to resolve Maratha reservation issue

Mumbai: A day after Maratha activist Manoj Jarange-Patil withdrew his indefinite fast demanding reservation for his community, differences emerged between him and the state government over the deadline for making a final decision on the issue.

Jarange-Patil claimed the deadline was December 24, two months from the October 24 deadline set by him earlier. “The government delegation has given it in writing that the decision will be made by December 24,” Jarange-Patil told reporters in Aurangabad, where he is undergoing treatment at a private hospital following the withdrawal of his nine-day hunger strike.

On Thursday, when the activist withdrew his trike, both he and chief minister Eknath Shinde had said the government had time till January 2 to decide on the Maratha reservation issue. An announcement to this effect was made at the venue of the strike in Jalna district’s Antarvali Sarati village. CM Shinde also made the same announcement in a press conference on Thursday.

The government, however, chose not to engage with the activist on the matter to avoid further friction with the community.

“We do not want to debate on the deadline. If more time is needed over and above the stipulated period, we will discuss it with Jarange-Patil and convince him with the help of proof, and request him for more time,” said industries minister and Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) leader Uday Samant, adding that the state government was committed to resolving the issue with Jarange-Patil’s support.

Meanwhile, the chief minister held a series of meetings with government officials to implement the promises made to the Maratha community in a time-bound manner.

“I chaired a meeting of senior officials and all collectors and divisional commissioners and have asked them to work on the reservation issue in action mode. Collectors have been asked to depute dedicated staff for this work and undertake a weekly progress review. They have also been directed to set up special cells at the district level to facilitate issuance of the Kunbi certificates speedily,” Shinde told reporters. He added that principal secretary Vikas Kharge and additional chief secretary Nitin Gadre had been deputed to conduct the weekly progress review.

During the meeting, Shinde directed collectors to facilitate data collection by the state backward classes commission, which could prove the backwardness of the Maratha community. The government has appointed Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics and Indian Institute of Population Studies to assist the commission in this exercise.

The commission is expected to submit this data within one month. The data will then be submitted to the Supreme Court, which is hearing a curative plea regarding reservation for the Maratha community.

The chief minister also expanded the scope of the committee led by retired judge Sandeep Shinde. The committee is advising the government on its curative plea in the Supreme Court regarding Maratha reservation, as well as the procedure for giving Kunbi certificates to Marathas with Nizam-era proof.

“The committee has already visited eight districts in central Maharashtra and reviewed documents collected by the revenue machinery. A team of officers representing the committee is expected to go to Telangana to collect more documents from the Nizam era, but the visit has been stalled due to assembly polls in the neighboring state. If the visit happens in the next few days, the fieldwork of the committee will be complete and it will be in position to submit its report by the end of November,” said an official from the revenue department.

The committee submitted a preliminary report to the state government earlier this week, stating it had found over 13,500 documents with Kunbi-related records. The number of documents is expected to reach 16,000-18,000 once it finishes scanning records in central Maharashtra and Telangana.

“The committee has already prepared a list of 12 types of documents from which the Kunbi-related records can be obtained. It will now prepare the modalities related to issuance of caste certificates, which will be applicable in all districts of the state,” the revenue officer said.