Protesters demand free education for all in Maratha community

Mumbai: Maratha quota protesters demanded the Maharashtra government to allot free education to the community until reservation benefits were delivered to them, PTI reported.

The leader of the protest, activist Manoj Jarange, warned on Friday that if the government did not meet their demands by tonight, they would start their planned protest on Saturday at Azad Maidan ground.

Addressing a rally at Shivaji Chowk in the Vashi area of neighbouring Navi Mumbai, where he arrived in the morning with thousands of his supporters, Jarange said he would stay put in Navi Mumbai for the day.

"I am taking a step backward," the 40-year-old activist said, adding that he had stopped having food from Friday and was taking only water.

"If an ordinance (to meet his various demands) is not promulgated tonight, I will come to Mumbai tomorrow," he said.

"I will take decision on going to Azad Maidan (in Mumbai) tomorrow at noon. Once I set out, there will be no turning back," the activist warned.

The free education policy should be amended so that boys also get free education besides girls, and all Marathas should get free education "from KG to PG" (kindergarten to post-graduation) until the entire community gets reservation, he said.

Jharange has been demanding Kunbi community certificates for all the Marathas. Kunbi is an agrarian community that falls in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category. On Friday, he demanded that once a person has been established as a Kunbi community member, all his/her relatives should get a reservation. He wanted reservations for his Marathas in education as well as government jobs.

PTI reported that the Eknath Shinde government has been trying to persuade Jarange not to proceed to Mumbai, sending delegations to hold talks with him. State education minister Deepak Kesarkar told reporters earlier in the day that Jarange's demands had been accepted and would be fulfilled as per government procedure.