Maratha quota stir ends as govt accepts demand

The Maharashtra government on Saturday accepted the demand of Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange-Patil to extend OBC quota benefits to the community, a decision that was aimed at mollifying an agitation that was on the brink of bringing hundreds of thousands of protesters to the heart of India’s financial capital.

- Faisal Malik

Jarange-Patil called off his strike after parleys and deliberations between the two sides stretched overnight, which yielded into the Eknath Shinde-led administration announcing that people from the Maratha community will be eligible for reservation in jobs and education admissions if they produce certificates showing they belong to the agrarian Kunbi community and their blood relatives.

The state government issued a draft of the notification that will formalise the reservation arrangement, but it immediately faced pressure from within, with alliance partner Nationalist Congress Party (NCP of the Ajit Pawar faction) questioning the “backdoor entry” of Marathas into the quota pie kept for Other Backward Classes (OBC) and its legal sturdiness.

Jarange-Patil, who led his agitation to Vashi, Navi Mumbai on the outskirts of the state capital, described the announcements as a “victory” but said that he will return if the government did not ensure the decision stood legal scrutiny.

“Our demand was to issue Kunbi certificates to the blood relatives to Maratha individuals having Kunbi antecedents. An ordinance (draft notification) to this effect has been issued,” Jarange-Patil said, holding up a copy of the draft notification to amend a 2012 state rules on caste certificates. Chief minister Shinde was present at the gathering when the Maratha leader broke his indefinite fast.