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Mumbai, October 20 (IANS) Amid the ongoing protests over Maratha and OBC reservation in Maharashtra, Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Monday said that the OBC quota will not be harmed as the government’s stand is very clear that someone’s share will not be snatched away and given to someone else.
He further clarified that there will be no benefit to the Maratha Kunbi community of Western Maharashtra due to the government resolution issued on September 2 on the implementation of Hyderabad Gazette to provide Kunbi certificate to Marathas.
Minister Bawankule, who heads the cabinet sub-committee on OBC reservation and other issues, said “The government resolution of September 2 is final. Therefore, it would not be appropriate to comment further on it. However, the Hyderabad Gazette applies only to Marathwada and Vidarbha regions and will not benefit the Maratha Kunbi community of western Maharashtra. Therefore, OBC leaders should not misunderstand.”
Bawankule’s statement comes three days after veteran OBC leader and NCP minister Chhagan Bhujbal announced at a rally addressed in Beed on October 17 that the fight will continue in court and on the streets to stop the reduction of Other Backward Class (OBC) quota.
He said that OBCs are not against giving reservation to Marathas, however, the existing reservation structure should not be tampered with.
Additionally, OBC activist Ganesh Hek criticized the government proposal, accusing it of undermining OBC rights. The government proposal weakens the interest of OBCs. However, pro-Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange-Patil claimed that Bhujbal and his associates are demonizing OBCs to suit their political convenience.
Jarange-Patil said that Bhujbal has nothing to do with the poor OBC community.
He said, “Even if the OBC community suffers, they have nothing to do with it. They only use the OBC community for their own selfish ends. They will keep shouting OBC, OBC and looking for political gains. They have no intention of seeing the welfare and development of the OBC community.”
Meanwhile, Minister Bawankule said that he has met Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today regarding the development of Nagpur.
He said, “An important meeting was held today under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for the development of Nagpur Rural, Nagpur Metropolitan Region Development Authority and Nagpur City. Big and important decisions have been taken in this meeting.”
Minister Bawankule said, “In this meeting, a detailed discussion was held on how to easily deliver the benefits of various government schemes to the common citizens. This decision taken by the Chief Minister will give a great boost to the development work in Nagpur region.”
–IANS
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