Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Quota activist Manoj Jarange on Tuesday appealed to members of the Maratha community to submit memorandums to MLAs in their areas, asking them to raise their voices to strengthen the law for reservation when a special session of the state legislature is convened. Jarange was speaking to reporters at Antarwali Sarati village before starting his four-day tour, during which he will interact with people in parts of Ahmednagar, Pune, Navi Mumbai, Mumbai, Nashik and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.
"People from the Maratha community should present memorandums to MLAs in their respective areas and appeal to them to raise their voice as and when a special session of the state legislature is convened to strengthen the law for reservation," he said. The 40-year-old activist said he would hold a meeting with members of the community at Antarwali Sarati on February 10, and then commence his hunger strike.
Jarange, who has been spearheading the agitation for reservation since August last year, has been demanding Kunbi certificates for all Marathas to enable them to avail the benefits of quota in government jobs and education. Kunbi, an agrarian community, falls under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category.
"I will start fasting on February 10, as the government has not given details of the caste certificates it has distributed. It also appears that the committee is not doing its work in Marathwada, where records are found in large numbers," Jarange claimed. While the government had agreed to take into consideration the data from the gazettes of Satara, Mumbai and Nizam state to grant Kunbi caste certificates, the status of this is not known, he alleged.
Jarange had marched to Mumbai and reached the city on January 26, following which the Maharashtra government issued a draft notification to recognise as Kunbis all blood relatives of the Maratha community members whose Kunbi caste records have been found.
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