Maratha reservation row: Activist Jarange-Patil gives 10-day ultimatum to state

Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange Patil after completing his state-wide tour recently, once again set afoot for a massive rally in Jalna district, where he had protested sitting on hunger strike for more than two weeks.

On Saturday, he began a massive rally in Jalna and gave an ultimatum of 10 days to the state government to decide on including all Marathas in the other backward classes (OBC) category for reservation in government jobs and education.

“I will not rest till the Maratha community gets the reservation. Either we will take out a victory march or you will take out my funeral procession. We cannot tolerate more. Maratha community will not stop now,” said Jarange-Patil.

His objective is to pressure the government to grant the Maratha youths reservation in jobs and education, either through a new quota or by sharing the benefits given to the OBCs.

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“Our main demand is to issue Kunbi certificates to all Marathas and give them the benefit of OBC reservation. We will accept a special category for Maratha reservation but it should not be above the existing reservation limit of 50%,” he said.

One of the grounds on which the Maratha quota was set aside by the Supreme Court in May 2021 was that it took the state’s reservation limit beyond 50%.

The October 14 rally marks a special significance as it will be 30 days’ since Patil gave an ultimatum to the Maharashtra government to complete the necessary procedure to give Kunbi status to Marathas from Marathwada.

The idea of the statewide tour and rally is to mobilise Marathas and also to remind the state government of their assurance to give reservations to the community, said Jarange-Patil.

He also demanded that the government should conduct a survey of the OBCs every 10 years and remove the castes from the OBC list which have achieved progress by getting benefits from the reservation.

“A government-appointed committee has got proofs of around 5,000 pages about the Kunbi background of the Maratha community,” he said adding, therefore, Kunbi certificates should be given to all Marathas.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah should look into it. I request PM Modi and chief minister Eknath Shinde to Maratha reservation issue seriously and give Kunbi certificate and OBC reservation to the Maratha community,” urged Jarange-Patil.

Marathas comprise 32% of the state’s population. Marathwada is a politically significant region, and the government has been on the back foot here after the hunger strike by Maratha activist Manoj Jarange-Patil for reservation benefits for the community.