Former MP Haribhau Rathod on Sunday said that Other Backward Classes (OBCs) will not tolerate the Maharashtra government’s move to provide reservations in jobs and education to the Marathas at the cost of the quota for OBCs.
Following protests spearheaded by activist Manoj Jarange, the Eknath Shinde government is working towards giving Kunbi certificates to Marathas, said Rathod, an OBC leader, at a news conference. One of the demands of Jarange is that Marathas be given Kunbi caste certificates. The agrarian Kunbi community already gets quota benefits in the OBC category.
“This means there will be gross injustice to the OBCs,” he said, adding that they will not tolerate if the government starts providing Kumbi certificates to crores of Marathas. OBCs will take to the streets, he said.
The former Lok Sabha member said Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has stressed that the reservation to the OBCs would not be disturbed. “Chief Minister Eknath Shinde says that while giving quota to Marathas, there will be no injustice to other communities. But in the assurance given to Jarange Patil and as per the GR on Kunbi-Marathas, crores of Marathas will be given Kunbi certificates,” he claimed.
This will eat into the quota already provided under the OBC category. Rathod said the government is now searching for proof to give quota to Marathas but is not making similar efforts to provide reservations to Pardhis and the Banjara community. Rathod, a prominent Banjara leader, said their community should be included in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category.
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