State government emissary on Tuesday conveyed the deliberations at the meeting of cabinet sub committee on Maratha reservation to Manoj Jarange-Patil while requesting him to withdraw his agitation and give at least a month’s window for the government to be able to come out with some viable solution on the matter. The Maratha agitators however, stood firm on their demand and gave the government four days to come out with the GR regarding Maratha Reservation.
Maharashtra minister Girish Mahajan along with leaders like Arjun Khotkar, Rajesh Tope, Sandipan Bhumre met Manoj Jarange-Patil at his Antarvali Sarate village where he has been sitting on fast unto death. They tried to pursue him to end his fast and withdraw his stir and sought a window of a month. However, he was firm on his demand that Marathas be given reservation from the OBC quota.
“Though they don’t consider us so, we too are OBCs. Hence, grant us the reservation from that quota. Don’t pressurise me to withdraw the stir,” Jarange-Patil told the government emissary.
After much pursuation by minister Girish Mahajan, Jarange-Patil granted a window of four days to the government.
“I’m ready to die for the community. How much more time do you need? If you are not able to give reservation to the community, let me die. Either the community shall get the reservation or there will be my funeral procession,” Jarange-Patil said while giving an ultimetum to the government.
“We have been bearing with you, but you are beating us up. I give you four more days. I’ve given a word to the community. The recruitments are near. If you won’t grant quota our children will be dropped out of the process. You bring in a GR and I’ll withdraw my fast,” he added after pursuation by the minister.
While commenting on the issue, Jarange-Patil also said that the government needs the will to grant quota to the communit. “We were kept out for over 60 years. They even raised the 50% cap but we remained outside. Now do something better,” he appealed the government emissary.
Mahajan, while trying to pursue Jarange-Patil said, “We can being in not just a one line GR but one with pageful of text. But, this is a complex issue. It needs to stand the scrutiny of low. The reservation which had withstood the scrutiny in HC failed in HC due to lackluster attitude of the Uddhav Thackeray government. But, now we are here, the govenment is positive and wants to do a real justice to the demand.”
“The committee was set up three months ago. We now need really some more time. The community shall get justice, the children will have a bright future. It is not that everything has ended as three months are over. The chief Minister and the committee has appealed to give a month more,” Mahajan pleaded. He also mentioned that Jarange-Patil’s health is deteriorating.
Meanwhile, VBA leader Adv Prakash Ambedkar visited Antarvali Sarate village and met Jarange-Patil earlier in the day. He extended his support to the agitation but added that there is a method to the agitation for it tto be successful. He also said that while the constitution doesn’t say that a community can’t be given reservation or that even the SC hasn’t said that they won’t grant reservation to a community, there are certan procedures wherein one needs to prove that a group or community is worthy for the reservation policy. “If the government does that we won’t have any issues in grating reservation to the community,” he added.
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