Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange, engaged in an indefinite hunger strike since October 25 in his village Antarwali Sarati in Jalna district, put forth a demand during discussions with a government delegation on Thursday. Jarange insisted that reservation should be extended to Marathas across the entire state of Maharashtra. The delegation included retired high court judges Sandeep Shinde and M G Gaikwad, as well as other officials.
MLA Bachchu Kadu, who supports the ruling alliance, was also present. Jarange had said on Wednesday evening that he would not be drinking even water from now on even though an all-party meeting passed a resolution earlier in the day supporting the demand of quota and appealing him to call off his fast.
During the discussion on Thursday, which took place in front of the media, Jarange demanded that the government should provide enough funds and deploy multiple teams for the survey of the economic and social backwardness of the Maratha community. A government order granting Kunbi caste certificates to Marathas should be passed and the word throughout (Maharashtra) should be included, he demanded.
The government has already started the process of giving Kunbi certificates to Marathas from the Marathwada region who can produce old records referring to them or their ancestors as Kunbi. Kunbi, an agrarian community, gets reservation in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category. When other castes are getting reservation benefits, why Marathas are not getting them? Jarange asked.