OBC quota will not be diluted while giving Maratha reservation, says Eknath Shinde

Eknath Shinde, the chief minister of Maharashtra, declared on Friday that the reservation of Other Backward Classes (OBC) will not be touched while giving quota to the Maratha community.

CM Shinde held a meeting with representatives of the OBC and Nomadic Tribes at Sahyadri Guest House. It was attended by Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar as well as senior ministers and officials.  Representatives from these segments put forth their demand in the meeting.

The government’s stand is quota of any community will not be diluted. While giving reservation to the Maratha community, the quota of other communities will remain unaffected, Shinde said. He added that the government stands firmly behind those from the Nomadic Tribes. Shinde said officials have been directed to start 72 hostels for OBC students.

Fadnavis said implementation of schemes of Rs 4,000 crore is being done.  Pawar, who handles the Finance department in the Shinde government, said the NT community will be allocated a huge amount of funds in the budget. In the meantime, Fadnavis would travel to Chandrapur to convince Ravindra Tonge to end his 19-day hunger strike, according to Sachin Rajurkar, general secretary of the Rashtriya OBC Mahasangh, who attended the meeting.

Tonge, the leader of the Rashtriya OBC Mahasangh's student branch, is on a hunger strike for a number of reasons, including his opposition to the Maratha community's inclusion in the OBC section for the purpose of reservations.