Maharashtra backward class panel submits survey report on Marathas; CM Shinde urges Jarange to end fast

PTI

Mumbai, February 16

The Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission on Friday submitted a report on its survey on the social, economic, and educational backwardness of the Maratha community, the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said.

CM Eknath Shinde has urged Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange to end his indefinite hunger strike, stressing that the state government is positive about giving reservation to the community, it said.

The report will enable the government to introduce a law ensuring reservation for the Maratha community with the backing of necessary data, the CMO said. The massive exercise covered nearly 2.5 crore families.

The report was submitted by chairperson of the commission Justice (retd) Sunil Shukre to CM Shinde in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, the CMO said.

“The survey (findings) will be discussed in the state cabinet meeting,” it said, quoting CM Shinde.

The government has also announced a special session on February 20 to discuss the community’s demands for quota in education and government jobs.

Shinde has stressed that Marathas will be given reservation without disturbing the existing quota of other communities. He urged Jarange to end his fast, asserting that the state government is positive about giving reservation to the community.

“When the government is fully committed to giving reservation to the Maratha community, there should be no reason to protest,” Shinde said.

Activist Jarange is on an indefinite fast at his native place in Jalna district since February 10 over the Maratha reservation.

The survey by the backward class panel began on January 23 across Maharashtra, involving 3.5 to 4 lakh state government personnel, and it covered 2.5 crore families.

The government, in a parallel exercise, had also begun looking for Kunbi records.

Kunbi, an agrarian community, falls in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category, and Jarange has been demanding Kunbi certificates for all Marathas.

The government got the survey on the backwardness of Marathas to support its curative petition in the Supreme Court in connection with the quota for the community.

The SC in 2021 struck down reservations for Marathas in college admissions and jobs in Maharashtra, saying that there were no exceptional circumstances to justify the breach of the 50 per cent ceiling on overall reservations. The state filed a review plea, which was also rejected. It then filed a curative petition.

Meanwhile, members of some Maratha organisations staged a road blockade on Pune-Solapur highway near Pune on Friday to express solidarity with Jarange.

Mayur Dorge, a member of Maratha organisation ‘Sakal Maratha Samaj’, said that even as Jarange’s hunger strike has entered the seventh day, the government is indifferent towards his demands.

“To condemn the state government’s attitude and to support Jarange, we staged a rasta roko protest for 45 minutes,” he said. A similar protest was also held near Kiwale Road in Pimpri Chinchwad area.

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