This is an archive article published on September 27, 2023
Maratha quota: Jarange-Patil reminds Shinde govt of deadline, Sambhajiraje calls for reconstituting Backward Classes Commission
The Maratha quota law the government intends to bring in should be able to stand the scrutiny of the Supreme Court, said former MP Chhatrapati Sambhajiraje.
“I support the view of Jarange-Patil that the government should this time ensure that Maratha reservation law which it intends to bring in passes the legal test. It should be able to stand the scrutiny of the Supreme Court.” former MP Chhatrapati Sambhajiraje said. Express Photo)
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Maratha quota: Jarange-Patil reminds Shinde govt of deadline, Sambhajiraje calls for reconstituting Backward Classes Commission
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Manoj Jarange-Patil Wednesday said he would not rest until the Maratha community gets reservation in government jobs and educational institutes. The Jalna-based activist has been at the forefront of agitations seeking reservations for the Maratha community and recently undertook an indefinite hunger strike and ended it only after Chief Minister Eknath Shinde promised to fulfil his demands.
”I will not sit quietly until the Maratha community gets reservation,” Jarange-Patil told reporters in Jalna. “I broke the fast after the chief minister assured me that all steps would be taken to ensure that the Maratha community gets the reservation. I broke my fast after the chief minister’s assurance. After that, I have given 40 days to the state government to act on its promise.”
”The onus is on the government to ensure that it gives the Maratha community a reservation which passes the legal test and can be upheld by the apex court,” he said.
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Jarange-Patil was on hunger strike from August 29 in the Antarwali Sarathi village of the Jalna district. He broke his fast on September 18 when Chief Minister Shinde landed in the village and assured him of the Maratha reservation.
Reacting to Jarange-Patil’s statement, former MP Chhatrapati Sambhajiraje, who is also arguing for the Maratha community’s quota, told The Indian Express, “I support the view of Jarange-Patil that the government should this time ensure that Maratha reservation law which it intends to bring in passes the legal test. It should be able to stand the scrutiny of the Supreme Court.”
Sambhajiraje said, ”The Supreme Court, while scrapping the Maratha quota upheld by the high court, had clearly stated that the Maratha community was a forward community and not socially and educationally backward. The Supreme Court based its judgement on the report of the state Backward Classes Commission.”
The government, said Sambhajiraje, should not act just to make the Maratha community happy. “It should ensure a foolproof reservation. For that to happen, I will suggest that the state Backward Classes Commission, whose report will play an important role, be reconstituted. The current commission’s term is going to end on March 23. The commission has become inactive. As per my information, some of its members want to resign. If that is the case, then the government should reconstitute the commission and this can be done before its term expires on March 23,” he said.
“The community’s sentiments are on one side, and the judicial process is on the other. The government will have to ensure how it does the balancing act to ensure that the reservation stands the test of law. Jarange-Patil first demanded that Marathas from the Marathwada region be given Kunbi certificates. Later, he demanded that all Marathas in Maharashtra be given the Kunbi certificates. My view is clear that if the reservation fits within the frame of the constitution and legally as well, then there is no harm in giving it to the Maratha community,” Sambhajiraje said.
“I want to emphasise that only if the reservation fits within the framework of law, then give it. To date, 49 Maratha community youths have ended their lives. The consequences of a weak reservation are dangerous,” he added.
Manoj More has been working with the Indian Express since 1992. For the first 16 years, he worked on the desk, edited stories, made pages, wrote special stories and handled The Indian Express edition. In 31 years of his career, he has regularly written stories on a range of topics, primarily on civic issues like state of roads, choked drains, garbage problems, inadequate transport facilities and the like. He has also written aggressively on local gondaism. He has primarily written civic stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad, Khadki, Maval and some parts of Pune. He has also covered stories from Kolhapur, Satara, Solapur, Sangli, Ahmednagar and Latur. He has had maximum impact stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad industrial city which he has covered extensively for the last three decades.
Manoj More has written over 20,000 stories. 10,000 of which are byline stories. Most of the stories pertain to civic issues and political ones. The biggest achievement of his career is getting a nearly two kilometre road done on Pune-Mumbai highway in Khadki in 2006. He wrote stories on the state of roads since 1997. In 10 years, nearly 200 two-wheeler riders had died in accidents due to the pathetic state of the road. The local cantonment board could not get the road redone as it lacked funds. The then PMC commissioner Pravin Pardeshi took the initiative, went out of his way and made the Khadki road by spending Rs 23 crore from JNNURM Funds. In the next 10 years after the road was made by the PMC, less than 10 citizens had died, effectively saving more than 100 lives.
Manoj More's campaign against tree cutting on Pune-Mumbai highway in 1999 and Pune-Nashik highway in 2004 saved 2000 trees.
During Covid, over 50 doctors were asked to pay Rs 30 lakh each for getting a job with PCMC. The PCMC administration alerted Manoj More who did a story on the subject, asking then corporators how much money they demanded....The story worked as doctors got the job without paying a single paisa.
Manoj More has also covered the "Latur drought" situation in 2015 when a "Latur water train" created quite a buzz in Maharashtra. He also covered the Malin tragedy where over 150 villagers had died.
Manoj More is on Facebook with 4.9k followers (Manoj More), on twitter manojmore91982 ... Read More
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