And he didn’t resort to a hunger strike but took the ultimate step.
Annasaheb Patil, from the Mathadi community, championed the cause of the Maratha community by bringing forth their demand for reservation in the 1980s. Patil, who was a Congress MLC and an eminent Maratha leader, also went against his party’s government to demand reservations for Marathas.
However, when his demand was not met, he ended his life, marking the beginning of the struggle for Maratha reservation that continues to this day.
STRUGGLE FOR MATHADIS
Born in a humble farming family in Mandrulkole, a small village in Patan taluk, Patil’s early years were marked by hardship and toil. He belonged to the Mathadi community, whose people were involved in work related to carrying loads on their heads.
With limited educational opportunities, he found himself working in sugarcane fields in Mumbai and later as a labourer in a wood mill. However, it was this very experience as a manual labourer that ignited in him a fierce desire to fight against the oppression faced by workers.
WHAT IS COMING IN WAY OF MARATHA RESERVATION? MAHARASHTRA QUOTA ISSUE EXPLAINED
In Mumbai, he saw the struggles of the members of his community, who came to the capital city from areas like Pune, Kolhapur, Sangli, and Solapur in search of livelihood. However, despite their gruelling physical work, the Mathadis used to get very low wages.
In the 1960s, Annasaheb Patil led the Mathadis’ struggle to demand basic amenities, adequate wages, health facilities, and social security.
His struggle resulted in the Mathadi Worker Act, also known as the Maharashtra Mathadi, Hamal, and Other Manual Workers (Regulation of Employment and kalyan) Act. The legislation, which came into existence on June 5, 1969, was enacted to regulate the employment and kalyan of manual labourers, particularly those involved in loading and unloading goods in Maharashtra.
MARATHA RESERVATION
Annasaheb Patil’s commitment to the kalyan of the labourers was not limited to legislative action. He was a prominent member of the Indian National Congress and served as a Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) in Maharashtra, using his political platform to advocate for the rights and kalyan of the workers.
By the 1980s, Annasaheb Patil realised that not only the Mathadis, but the overall situation of the Maratha community was fragile. Though large in numbers, the Marathas were divided into various sub-castes, and a majority of them were poor farm labourers or involved in some kind of agricultural work.
In 1980, Patil started a state-wide tour and spoke to the members of the Maratha community in remote villages. His visits prompted him to establish the Akhil Bharatiya Maratha Mahasangh, an umbrella organisation to push for the demands of the Maratha community.
On March 22, 1982, he led a massive march in Mumbai, demanding reservation based on economic criteria rather than caste. The march, organised by Patil’s Akhil Bharatiya Maratha Mahasangh, presented a charter of 10 demands to the Congress-led state government, including quotas on economic grounds and remunerative pricing of agricultural produce.
Patil had threatened that if these demands were not met, he would end his life. However, the Chief Minister Babasaheb Bhosale-led Congress government did not agree to the demands put forth by Patil.
True to his word, Annasaheb Patil ended his life a day later, on March 23, by shooting himself. His tragic death marked a turning point in the struggle for the Maratha reservation, igniting a movement that continues to this day.
Ironically, Annasaheb Patel’s demands were rejected by his own Congress party in Maharashtra.
FROM ECONOMIC TO CASTE: CHANGED CRITERIA FOR QUOTA
Unlike the current demand for a caste-based reservation, Annasaheb Patil’s demand for the Maratha reservation was based on economic criteria. However, after the Mandal Commission report on the reservation was implemented by the Congress government in 1990, the Maratha quota seekers shifted their focus to caste.
In 2004, the Maharashtra government included Kunbis, a sub-caste of poor peasants among Marathas, in the list of other backward classes (OBCs). However, it was unacceptable to the otherwise dominant Maratha community, who demanded reservation for the entire community — forming nearly 33 per cent of Maharashtra’s population.
The demand still stands. Due to the recent protests and Jarange’s fast, the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government has started issuing Kunbi caste certificates to eligible Maratha community members, paving the way for their inclusion in the OBC category.
The state Cabinet also decided that the OBC Commission would collect fresh empirical data to assess the educational and social backwardness of the Maratha community.
However, the Maratha activists demand that Kunbi certificates be given to Marathas across the state, irrespective of their genealogy.
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