Justice to Marathas, ensuring quota of other communities remained intact: Shinde

Mumbai: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday said the state government did justice to the Maratha community by addressing its key demands related to quota and overall welfare, and also ensured the reservation of other communities remained untouched.

Talking to reporters hours after activist Manoj Jarange ended his five-day-old fast in Mumbai, Shinde noted the BJP-led Mahayuti government was positive about addressing the Maratha quota issue since the beginning.

Accordingly, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy CM Ajit Pawar and he himself had holistic discussions on the emotive issue, Shinde said.

The government took the decision of implementing the Hyderabad gazette, one of the key demands put forward by Jarange, and this will make getting a Kunbi caste certificate easier for Marathas, thereby making them eligible for reservation in jobs and education, he affirmed.

Kunbis, an agrarian community, have been included in the OBC category in the state.

"We addressed the issue of Maratha reservation and did justice to the Maratha community and also ensured that the quota of other communities remained untouched," Shinde said.

Shinde said decisions on Hyderabad gazette and other welfare measures for Marathas taken by the government were in accordance with law and definitely will pass legal scrutiny.

He pointed out that the Justice Sandeep Shinde panel, formed in September 2023 (when Eknath Shinde was CM) and tasked with tracing Kunbi records, has found 58 lakh such entries so far. Of these, 10.35 lakh Kunbi certificates have already been issued.

Shinde clarified there were no back channels talks with Jarange.