Days after Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced the decision to expand the scope of Justice (retired) Sandeep Shinde committee to extend Kunbi (Other Backward Classes) certificate to Marathas from across the state Food and Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal has asked some tough questions to his own government and has even targetted Maratha leader Manoj Jarange Patil who resorted to hunger strike over the demand. Fearing Maratha reservation may eat into the reservation for OBCs, Bhujbal said that he was not opposed to Maratha reservation but feared that the same may eat up benefits available to OBCs if Marathas were to be included in OBCs. He asked the Marathas not to label as less-qualified the OBCs.
He asked if the government was going to pay compensation to those whose houses were set on fire by the protesters. He pointed that the farmers who had offered their fields for Jarange’s public meeting were paid compensation. The public meeting for Jarange had occupied over 350 acres of land. Bhujbal also sought to know why Jarange, who had disowned violent protests, demanded not to prosecute them. Bhujbal said that reservation was not a poverty alleviation programme and the OBC community had got the benefits after 70 years of struggle. I wish him well, Bhujbal said when asked about Jarange.
Marathas, who constitute nearly 33% of the state's population, have been demanding the reservation in education and government jobs.It was in the year 1981 when the state saw its first protests demanding the Maratha reservation under the leadership of the Mathadi Labour Union leader Annasaheb Patil. The community has been seeking Kunbi caste certificates for Marathas which will enable their inclusion in the OBC category for reservation. Kunbis, who are associated with agriculture, are grouped under the OBC (Other Backward Classes) category in Maharashtra.Manoj Jarange-Patil, a local Maratha leader, have been sitting on a hunger strike at Antarwali Sarati village demanding reservations for the Maratha community in education and government jobs. It was only after his health deteriorated on the fourth day of the fast-unto-death agitation, that police intervened in the agitation. Jarange-Patil participated in more than 30 agitations for Maratha quota since 2011. In 2014 he led a huge rally at the Aurangabad divisional headquarters which established his identity as the front leader of the Maratha agitation across the state.