Talks fail, Jarange-Patil gives govt four more days to issue notification

Talks between the government and Maratha protestors over the reservation issue failed, as the government was given four more days to issue a Government Resolution. The Maratha activist on hunger strike since August 29 has requested the government to declare Marathas as kunbis and extend reservation benefits to them in the OBC category. The government delegation requested the activist to withdraw the protest, citing the need for more time, but the activist granted four more days. The government is working on formulating a foolproof reservation policy.

The stalemate over the Maratha reservation issue remained unresolved, as talks between the government and Maratha protestors failed on Tuesday. Manoj Jarange-Patil, the Maratha activist who has been on an indefinite hunger strike since August 29, gave the government four more days to issue a Government Resolution declaring Marathas as kunbis (a sub-caste) and extending the benefits of the reservation policy to them in the Other Backward Class (OBC) category. Activists claim that Marathas from central Maharashtra were considered kunbis in the pre-independence Nizam era.

Thane, India - September , 04, 2023: Activists of the Maratha community in Thane staged a protest outside the Thane Collector office on Monday to protest against the police lathicharge (beating ) on the protestors protesting for Maratha reservation in Jalna Maharashtra ,in Thane, in Mumbai, India, on,Monday, September, 04, 2023. ( Praful Gangurde / HT Photo )

A delegation led by rural development minister Girish Mahajan, comprising Employment Guarantee Scheme minister Sandipan Bhumare and housing minister Atul Save, met Jarange-Patil at Antarvali village in Jalna on Tuesday evening. Jarange-Patil, hell-bent on the GR as the pre-condition to withdraw his hunger strike, had announced that he would stop drinking water if the GR was not issued by Tuesday. However, on the request of the delegation, he granted the government four more days.

“I was requested by the government to withdraw the protest, as the report by the Devara committee is expected to take one more month,” said Jarange-Patil. “They told me that the first meeting had already been held and 70 percent of the data had been compiled. Though I had decided to intensify the strike by giving up water from today, I have decided to give four more days to the government. If the committee is likely to take a few more days, the order could be issued on the basis of the information gathered so far.”

The government delegation also invited Jarange-Patil to Mumbai to attend the meetings, saying that his ‘guidance’ would help the government formulate the reservation policy. The Maratha activist, however, turned down the offer. “I am neither a government official nor a minister and do not understand administrative nitty-gritty,” he told the delegation. “What will I do in Mumbai? This is the job of the government.”

Mahajan said that the government wanted to draft a foolproof reservation policy which could not be challenged on legal grounds. “Chief minister Eknath Shinde and both the deputy chief ministers have been looking into it personally,” he said. “We have already held deliberations with the advocate-general and three to four former Chief Justices to find a sustainable way out for the reservation. During the time of the Fadnavis government, we granted reservation to the Marathas. Fadnavis even apologised to the community for the lathi charge. Something like this has never happened before.”

Mahajan said the government had decided to handle the reservation issue on priority by holding meetings on a daily basis. “We will talk to the CM and deputy CMs to resolve it at the earliest,” he said. “Though we have asked for one month’s time for the Devara Committee report, we will try to finalise it in 20 days.”

Deviating from normal practice, the talks were held publicly in the full media glare as insisted on by Jarange-Patil. The delegation had to face loud sloganeering from protesters who condemned the state government for its failure to give them reservations. Jarange Patil pacified them and asked them to stay silent.

Meanwhile, a committee headed by the revenue department’s additional chief secretary Rajgopal Devara held a meeting at the state Sahyadri guest house. The committee is compiling data and records from earlier revenue and educational departments to check if Marathas were considered Kunbis during Nizam rule, as the community has claimed.

“We have compiled 70 percent of the data from central Maharashtra,” said a member of the committee. “Only two of the eight districts are yet to submit their documents. After reviewing all the documents, we will submit a report to the government, and it will take a call on whether the community can be considered Kunbi for reservation in the OBC category.”

The Maratha community continued its statewide protest for the fourth day in various districts by observing a bandh. Community members sat on a hunger strike in some districts to extend their support to Jarange-Patil. The protests intensified after the lathi charge by police on the protesters in Jalna on Friday.