Ensure existing quota not touched while addressing Marathas' demand: Pankaja Munde

The minister said it was the duty of the state to bring backward sections into the mainstream.

Mumbai: Maharashtra minister Pankaja Munde has said the state government must ensure the existing reservation benefits of various communities are not disturbed while addressing the demand for quota by Marathas.

Activist Manoj Jarange has been leading the Maratha community's demand for a 10 per cent reservation under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) grouping and staging an indefinite hunger strike at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai to press for it. Some OBC leaders have, however, objected to it.

Jarange wants Marathas to be recognised as Kunbis -- an agrarian caste included in the Other Backward Classes category -- which will make them eligible for reservation in government jobs and education, though OBC leaders are opposed to it.

"The groups that were identified and given reservation benefits on the basis of social backwardness remain backward even today. Their quota cannot be touched while extending similar benefits to the Maratha community," Munde told a regional news channel on Monday.

She also emphasised that no one should be issued OBC certificates illegally.

"Whoever is backward in the state, the government must support them for their progress. The core of the reservation demand is not only economic backwardness but also social backwardness," she added.

Munde said access to good education and employment opportunities can uplift lives and reduce the emphasis on caste identity.

"Nothing will be more beautiful than this," she said.

Notably, state minister Chhagan Bhujbal has warned of massive protests by members of the OBC communities if any attempt is made to disturb their existing reservation for accommodating Marathas.