MARATHA RESERVATION: Manoj Jarange Patil to hold mega rally in Jalna

“The public rally has been organised on a 250-acre land. In the village, the organisers are expecting a turnout of over a lakh people from Maratha community,” one of the organisers said. Though the 30 days’ time is getting over, Patil has given additional 10 days to the government.

On September 30, Jarange Patil had started a 14-day tour from Antarwali Sarati village in Jalna, the place where he went on an indefinite hunger strike a month ago to press his demand for reservation for the Maratha community and withdrew his fast only after Chief Minister Eknath Shinde landed at the village and assured him that the government is working out a solution to provide reservation for the community.

As part of the state-wide tour, Jarange Patil visited 87 villages in 13 districts in the first phase to interact with the Maratha community. After completing the tour, a public rally has been planned at Antarwali Sarati village on October 14. During the tour, Jarange Patil had said the aim of the tour was to explain the quota issue to the community members and had said in his speeches that he would not sit quiet till he secured reservation for the Maratha community.

Following Jarange Patil’s hunger strike to press for the reservation demands, the state government had issued a Government Resolution on Maratha reservation, which stated that the government would provide Kunbi caste certificates to all Marathas from Marathwada who possess Nizam-era revenue records, educational records and other supporting records and if ‘Kunbi’ is mentioned in their genealogy. The state’s Kunbi community is associated with agriculture-related occupations and is grouped under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category.

Jarange-Patil had objected to the GR stating that giving Marathas a Kunbi caste certificate would mean that they would be counted as OBCs and get reservation benefits that OBCs get in the state. The Maratha activist sought a correction in the GR stating that not only Marathas in Marathwada but members of the community across the state be given reservation.