New Delhi: Amid protests for Maratha quota, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday expressed regret over the use of force by police on Maratha quota protesters in Jalna district last week.
The Maharashtra government, which is under for lathi-charge on the protestors, held a high-level meeting on the Maratha reservation chaired by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, reported ANI.
"Lathicharge by Police was not right... I am apologising on behalf of the Government. CM has said that the action will be taken against those who are responsible for it," he said.
Fadnavis stated that the lathi-charge order was not given by any top official to the Jana Police last week. "Such decisions (use of police force etc.) are taken at the local level," Fadnavis, who handles the Home Department, told reporters.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde told reporters that a high-level meeting was held and the issue of providing reservation to the Maratha community was taken up. "In the high-level meeting today, discussion on providing reservation to the Maratha community was taken up. Govt is working seriously towards it. Maratha community should get a reservation, that is what the Govt believes," he said.
Shinde said that a committee will submit its report within a month on how to issue Kunbi caste certificates to Marathas from Marathwada region. Kunbis, the community associated with agriculture, are grouped under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category in Maharashtra.
“A committee was set up and asked to submit a report within a month on how to issue Kunbi certificates to the Maratha community from Marathwada. The state government has taken this issue seriously and we are working to find an amicable solution," the chief minister told reporters.
Marathas have been demanding the reservation in education and government jobs.
Reservation in jobs and education provided by the then Maharashtra government to the Maratha community under the socially and educationally backward category in 2018 was quashed by the Supreme Court in May 2021, citing the 50 per cent ceiling on total reservations among other grounds.
“I have directed officials to study the Supreme Court's verdict on the Maratha quota and recommend solutions. We need to establish that the Maratha community is backward,” the chief minister added.
