MUMBAI: Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil on Tuesday stated that the government had accepted their demands for reservation benefits for Marathas and declared that they would vacate south Mumbai’s Azad Maidan by 9 pm once the government issues the necessary orders in this connection.
The government has accepted the demand for implementation of the Hyderabad and Satara gazettes, a notification announcing that Marathas and Kunbis are one and the same, and implementation of the “Sage Soyare” (blood and marital relatives) notification issued last year, said Jarange-Patil, who has been demanding that all Marathas in Marathwada (central Maharashtra) should be treated as Kunbis as they were during the Nizam rule.
The government has also accepted their demand that cases registered against the Maratha protesters be withdrawn, he added.
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Jarange-Patil made the announcement after a government delegation led by water resources minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil met him at Azad Maidan where the Maratha activist has been on an indefinite hunger strike for the last five days.
The delegation handed over the draft of the government resolution (GR) to Jarange-Patil, agreeing to his demands.
“We have received a copy of the draft GR and a group of experts will study it in one hour. Once approved by them, the government will issue the government resolution in an hour after which we will take a decision on withdrawing the stir. We do not want to fall flat on our face like it happened during the agitation at Vashi in January 2024. Once the GRs are issued, I assure the government that Mumbai will be vacated by 9 tonight,” Jarange-Patil said, adding his supporters and community workers at the protest site.
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He said the government had agreed to the implementation of the Hyderabad gazette with immediate effect and sought one month for the implementation of the Satara and Pune-Aundh gazette since there were some legal issues.
The delegation also agreed to withdraw all remaining cases lodged against Maratha protesters during agitations in 2023 and 2024. Apart from the cash compensation to the Maratha youth who ended their lives for reservation, the delegation also agreed to give jobs to family members of these youth on compassionate grounds in the state transport and Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation.
Based on the 5.8 million records related to the Kunbis found by the state government, Jarange-Patil had sought taluka-level committees to facilitate the issuance of the Kunbi certificates. He also demanded immediate clearance by the caste validation committees of the certificates issued.