‘We have won,’ says Jarange as Maha govt accepts his Maratha quota demands

Mumbai: Activist Manoj Jarange on Tuesday, September 2, announced victory after the Maharashtra government’s cabinet sub-committee on Maratha quota accepted most of his demands, including giving Kunbi caste certificates to eligible Marathas, on the fifth day of his indefinite fast, triggering celebrations among his supporters here.

“We have won,” Jarange told the Maratha quota stir protesters after his meeting with the state government’s cabinet sub-committee headed by minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil.

Vikhe Patil met Jarange in the afternoon with other members of the committee – Shivendrasinh Bhosale, Uday Samant, Manikrao Kokate – at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai, the site of the activist’s hunger strike, and discussed with him the draft finalised by the committee.

“We will leave Mumbai by 9 pm today if the Maharashtra government issues GRs (government resolutions) on the Maratha quota demands,” Jarange said.

The sub-committee accepted Jarange’s demands to implement the Hyderabad Gazette and said Marathas with Kunbi records will be given caste certificates after conducting a proper inquiry.

Jarange read out the committee’s draft points to his supporters, which said that it has accepted the implementation of the Hyderabad Gazette, and a GR will be issued immediately.

He said the implementation of the Satara Gazette will be done in a month’s time. As per the assurance given by the committee, cases against Maratha protesters filed earlier will be withdrawn by the end of September, he said.

It was also decided that financial assistance and government jobs will be given within a week, as per the educational qualifications to the kin of those who lost their lives during the protests so far, he said.

The committee told Jarange that Rs 15 crore assistance has been given (to the kin of the deceased protesters) so far, and the rest will be given in a week’s time.

Vikhe Patil said 8 lakh objections have been received to the ‘sage soyare’ (blood relatives) notification, and the government needs time to scrutinise them.

The government was also exploring legal options to issue a GR stating that Kunbis and Marathas are the same community, and it will take two months for the process, the minister said.

After Jarange’s announcement of victory, the celebrations erupted among the Maratha quota protesters in and around the Azad Maidan.

The activist began his hunger strike on August 29 to press for the demand of a 10 percent quota for the Maratha community in government jobs and education under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) grouping.