Civil service aspirants lend passive support to quota stir

“To understand why we need reservation, one has to come to the rural heartlands. Families like ours who are dependent on agriculture are continuously faced with uncertainty of income. If we had reservation, it would have meant access to education at affordable costs and also some assurance of a government job,” he said.

Like Bhosale, many other students and youth are some of the strongest supporters of the ongoing Maratha agitation. As Manoj Jaranage Patil continues his fast unto death, many have hit the streets and others like Bhosale, who have exams right round the corner, can only extend their support passively.

Bhosale has already given three attempts at the Union Public Service Commission and feels if the reservation was there, he would have been selected by now. His friend Hrushikesh Bile (28) has been preparing for the last six years and says this would be his last attempt at cracking the examination.

Bile, who hails from Karmala in Solapur, has a more studied view about the subject. “Reservation has to reach the last person in the community. The crisis is felt more by the rural youth. We are the ones who feel the ground shifting beneath our feet. Farm incomes are less and there are no job opportunities for us,” said Bile, who has pursued a degree in mechanical engineering.

Pune is the destination of many educated rural youths, who throng the coaching classes and libraries in the city as they prepare for the civil services examinations. Most of them hail from agricultural backgrounds with farm income being the main source of income for them.

The present-day anger among the youth stems from the fluctuation in income that Sandeep Nimbalkar’s family fetches from their four acre of grape cultivation. Nimbalkar (25), a resident of Khardi village in Pandharpur taluka, admitted that asking for reservation for a dominant community like the Marathas might seem odd but the ground reality is different.

“Dominance of the Marathas is now just numerical. Economically, people from our community do require help. Reservation would ensure we are able to at least get access to education at affordable costs. The agitation this time is also seing participation from a large number of women as even they want their children to get educated,” he said.

Overall, these educated youth feel let down by the leadership of their community. Unfortunately, the leaders worked for themselves and failed to take note of the changes that the community needs, voiced many of them.

Aniket Pawar, a trained lawyer who is preparing for the judicial services, however sounded a cautious note. “The reservation should stand the test of law,” he said.