Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange on Saturday called off his protest as the Maharashtra government accepted his demands. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde met Jarange in Navi Mumbai where the latter has been camping with thousands of protesters over the demand for reservation to his community.
Shinde and Jarange together garland the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in Navi Mumbai. The activist also ended his fast today after the state government accepted the demands.
His meeting was significant because the Maharashtra government on Friday night came out with a draft ordinance regarding the reservation demands of Marathas, and a team of government officials visited him last night at the campsite.
During his speech on Friday, Jarange had warned that he and his supporters would enter Mumbai on Saturday for their planned protest at Azad Maidan ground if their demands were not met by Friday night, PTI reported.
He also made a fresh demand that the government amend its free education policy to include all Marathas until the benefit of reservation becomes available for the entire community.
He has sought data on the 37 lakh Kunbi certificates issued by the state government. Kunbi, an agrarian community, falls in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category, and Jarange has been demanding Kunbi certificates for all Marathas.
The activist suddenly emerged into the limelight in September 2023 when police used force to break up the gathering at his indefinite fast at Antarwali Sarati village in Jalna district. He launched another round of fast later, forcing the government to initiate talks with him.
The Maharashtra government had earlier enacted a law to provide reservation in government jobs and admissions to educational institutes to the politically as well as numerically dominant Maratha community, but it was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2021.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Shinde had earlier reiterated his government was committed to providing reservation to Marathas without disturbing the existing quotas of other communities.
“My government will give reservations which will pass the legal scrutiny. A total of 1.4 lakh people are participating in the survey that is currently underway. They are working in three shifts. So far, discussions with Jarange have been positive,” the chief minister said.
Shinde had last month said a special session of the state legislature would be held in February, if necessary, to provide reservation to the Maratha community.
In October last year, the Maharashtra government published an order asking officials concerned to issue fresh Kunbi caste certificates to eligible Maratha community members, paving the way for them to avail reservation benefits under the OBC category.
A government resolution (GR) had asked the officials to translate old documents having references to Kunbis and written in Urdu and ‘Modi’ script (which was used to write the Marathi language in earlier times)
Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it’s all here, just a click away! Login Now!