Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange made allegations, claiming that Other Backward Classes (OBC) are receiving excessive benefits from the reservation system. He asserted that the Maratha community in Maharashtra should receive the quota benefits in accordance with the recommendations of the Mandal Commission for backward classes.
Jarange, who has brought back the Maratha quota issue to the centre stage in Maharashtra, was speaking to a regional news channel here. Manoj Jarange, aged 40, had previously undertaken a hunger strike in Jalna district, pressing for reservation for the Maratha community within the OBC category. His hunger strike, which had lasted for 17 days, came to an end on September 14 after Chief Minister Eknath Shinde met with him and pledged to address his demands. Jarange has now given the Shinde government a 40-day ultimatum to take action towards implementing reservation for the Maratha community.
He has been demanding that the Maratha community be included in the OBC category so that it gets the reservation benefits. The OBC leaders in the state have, however, opposed this demand. The government formed the Mandal Commission and set the reservation limit to 14 per cent. How did it later increase the limit to 30 to 32 per cent? If we (Marathas) are included in the OBCs, it would not affect their quota, Jarange claimed.
The other communities included in the reservation list in the past did not produce any papers or documents. But when it comes to Marathas, we are asked to submit several documents and papers in order to get the reservation benefits. The OBCs are getting excess benefits of reservation, he alleged.
The activist said, All Marathas are Kunbis, as their occupation is agriculture. In Vidarbha, the Kunbi community gets a reservation. I demand that the government give a Kunbi certificate to all the Marathas in the state. Kunbis (the community associated with agriculture) are grouped under the OBC category in Maharashtra and enjoy reservation benefits under it.