Maratha Reservation: 'Center cannot remain a spectator, solve the matters', Sharad Pawar roared on reservation dispute
Maratha Reservation: When asked about the growing Maratha-OBC conflict on the issue of reservation in Maharashtra, Sharad Pawar said that there is only one solution to this and that the Center should take the initiative to resolve it.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar once again attacked the Center on Thursday. He said that the Center cannot remain a mere spectator. It should take the initiative to resolve matters related to the demand for reservation by the Maratha community and Other Backward Classes (OBC).
When asked about the growing Maratha-OBC conflict on the issue of reservation in Maharashtra, Pawar said that there is only one solution to this and that the Center should take the initiative to resolve it. For this, amendments are needed in the law and the policies of the state and the Center. The former Union Minister was talking to reporters in Baramati in the Pune district of Maharashtra.
In February this year, the Maharashtra Assembly unanimously approved a bill giving the Maratha community an independent 10 percent reservation in education and jobs under a separate category. The agitators, however, are demanding reservation under the OBC group.
Activist Manoj Jarange has demanded Marathas' inclusion in the Kunbi community, which falls under the Other Backward Classes category. He wants all the blood relations of Maratha to be registered in the Kunbi caste. Kunbi is a community that belongs to the agricultural family in Maharashtra, which has been included in the OBC. These people have reservations about government jobs and educational institutions. Now Jarange is demanding that all Marathas be issued Kunbi certificates, thus making them eligible for quota in government jobs and education.
Amid the demand for the Maratha reservation, two OBC activists are on a hunger strike in Jalna district and demanding assurance from the government that the existing reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) will not be changed.
Pawar said that the state and central governments will have to change the policy. He said, "Governments, especially the Centre, should take the lead in resolving the demands of both the communities and ensure that the movement does not cross the line and create social tension. Governments cannot remain mere spectators on this issue."
