Man Consumes Poison Over Concerns Related To Maratha Reservation Issues

The man who took his own life by consuming a poisonous substance in a note had expressed his desperation for a government job.

A 23-year-old man from the Maratha community took his own life by consuming poison in Maharashtra’s Nanded city, purportedly due to concerns related to reservation issues. The incident occurred on November 11 in the Zenda Chowk area, where Dajiba Ramdas Kadam, a resident of Marlak village, had come for work, as per a PTI report.

After consuming the poison, Dajiba was found unconscious. He was promptly taken to a hospital but died during treatment on November 12. A note found in his possession expressed his desperation for a government job. 

"This is a question of a government job for me. 'Ek Maratha, lakh Maratha'," the note read. The Bhagyanagar police station has filed an accidental death report in connection with the incident.

Marathas, constituting over 30% of Maharashtra's population, have been advocating reservations in both educational institutions and government employment. Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange has set a new deadline for the state government to announce the reservation by December 24.

He has urged Maratha youth to pursue their demand for reservations through peaceful means, discouraging extreme actions.

"If we are not given reservation by December 24, we will disclose the names of these leaders," Jarange told reporters at a private hospital in Maharashtra's Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar where he was undergoing treatment after ending his fast for the quota demand last week.

Earlier this month, advocates for the Maratha reservation asserted that during the Nizam era, all the Maratha community members were acknowledged as the Kunbi community. Hence, they argue, all Marathas should be categorised as Kunbis within the OBC classification.

According to a pro-quota activist, the "Marathas and Kunbis freely inter-dined and intermarried", resulting in a significant overlap between the two communities.

The agrarian Kunbi community already enjoys quota benefits in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category. Sanjay Lakhe Patil, the coordinator of the Maratha Kranti Morcha, stated on Saturday that historically, members of the Maratha community have been linked to farming and were historically referred to as Kunbis.