Shinde announces OBC benefits for Marathas, Jarange calls off fast

Mumbai, January 27

Activist Manoj Jarange on Saturday called off his indefinite fast over the Maratha quota issue after the government accepted his demands, with Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announcing that till Marathas get reservation, they would be given all the benefits enjoyed by the OBCs.

Jarange had launched his fast at Vashi in Navi Mumbai, a satellite city of Mumbai, on Friday, in the presence of thousands of his supporters.

He had set out on a protest march from his native Antarwali Sarati village in Jalna district last Saturday. The 40-year-old activist planned to stage a hunger strike at Azad Maidan in South Mumbai from January 26. On Friday morning, the protesters reached Vashi, where they made an overnight halt in view of the Mumbai police issuing a notice to Jarange, saying no ground in the city could accommodate the large number of agitators.

During his address on Friday, Jarange 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 night. The government tried to persuade Jarange not to proceed to Mumbai, sending delegations to hold talks with him.

At night, the government came out with a draft ordinance over the demands. CM Shinde held meetings with officials to discuss Jarange’s demands and sent a delegation at night with a draft ordinance to meet the activist.

On Saturday morning, it also issued a notification to recognise as Kunbis all blood relatives of the Maratha community members whose Kunbi caste records have been found.

Kunbi, an agrarian community, falls in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category, and Maratha quota activist Jarange, who spearheads the agitation over the reservation issue, has been demanding Kunbi certificates for all Marathas. In the morning, Jarange said he was withdrawing his agitation as the government had accepted all his demands. Shinde reached the protest venue around 10.45 am. Jarange accepted a glass of juice offered to him by the CM and ended his indefinite fast.