Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange Patil on Wednesday announced a statewide 'Rasta Roko' (stop the roads) on March 3 to demand the implementation 'Sage Soyare' (relatives from the family tree) ordinance notification in Maharashtra.
Patil declined to end his hunger strike despite the Maharashtra government on Tuesday passing a bill providing quota to Marathas. While Patil welcomed the move, he expressed doubts about whether the bill would pass legal scrutiny.
Why is Jarange Patil continuing hunger strike?
Patil has insisted on a reservation in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category since a similar bill couldn't pass legal scrutiny and was struck down in 2021.
Patil demands that all Marathas be considered as Kunbi – a caste in Maharashtra under the OBC – and be given reservations accordingly. He wants one's blood relations to be allowed to have Kunbi registration as well.
The draft notification on ‘sage-soyare’ facilitates the issuance of Kunbi certificates to the relatives of Marathas with documents to prove their Kunbi antecedents as well as to people in the same patriarchal lineage and to relatives by marriage, albeit of the same caste. The Kunbi certificates ensure the inclusion of Marathas in the OBC quota, which is why Marathas are up in arms, anticipating a major encroachment on their quota.
Meanwhile, both houses of Maharashtra passed the Maratha Reservation Bill, giving a 10% additional quota to Marathas in the state, breaching the present 50% cap. The bill is similar to the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes Act, 2018, introduced by the then Devendra Fadnavis government. The Supreme Court struck down the 2018 Act citing the 50% cap it had set in 1992.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, both houses of Maharashtra passed the Maratha Reservation Bill, giving a 10% additional quota to Marathas in the state, breaching the present 50% cap. The bill is similar to the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes Act, 2018, introduced by the then Devendra Fadnavis government. The Supreme Court struck down the 2018 Act citing the 50% cap it had set in 1992.
{{/usCountry}}(With inputs from ANI)