Taking steps to issue Kunbi certificates to eligible Marathas: Maha govt to HC

The Maharashtra government on Wednesday told the Bombay High Court that it was taking all necessary steps to include eligible Marathas in the OBC category by granting them Kunbi caste certificatesAdvocate General Birendra Saraf told a division bench of Justices A S Gadkari and Shyam Chandak that it has not been even 20 days since the government issued a draft notification stating that eligible Marathas would be included in the Other Backward Classes but Jarange has already launched a hunger strike newswire PTI reportedThe bench was hearing a petition filed by activist Gunaratan Sadavarte over disruption of law and order due to Jaranges ongoing agitation Saraf said the government has always been sensitive to the situationLast time people Jarange and his followers marched to Mumbai and the state took steps including issuing a notification calling for objections to amend the rules The law has a certain timeline In situations like this a continuous fast will lead to various situations which will become difficult the advocate general told the courtThe government is taking all steps to amend the rules to issue Kunbi caste certificates to persons from the Maratha community he added Kunbis an agrarian community get reservation under the OBC categoryThe government was also concerned about Jaranges health and he should accept medical assistance Saraf further said Sadavarte arguing himself said frequent protests created law and order problemsJaranges lawyer Ramesh Dubepatil told the court that the activist was being administered salineThe court said it would hear the matter further on ThursdayMeanwhile the health condition of Jarange is deteriorating but he is not allowing doctors to examine him an activist close to him saidTalking to reporters from the protest site Jarange warned the state government that in case he dies during his hunger strike the members of the Maratha community would set Maharashtra on fire just the way Lord Hanuman did to LankaTalking about his health condition activist Kishor Markad said Jaranges indefinite fast has entered the fifth day and his health is deteriorating His nose is bleeding but he is not letting doctors examine himHe is neither consuming water not taking his medicines he addedAmong other things Jarange has sought that a special session of the Maharashtra legislature be convened to convert the draft notification on blood relatives of Kunbi Marathas into a lawWarning the government Jarange said In Ramayana Lord Hanuman set Lanka on fire with the tail If I die during my protest the Marathas will turn Maharashtra into LankaHe also threatened that no public meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be allowed to be held in MaharashtraThe activist appealed to his community members to observe a peaceful bandh called by the Maratha outfits in Jalna on WednesdayJarange accused Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar of deceiving the Marathas by failing to implement the draft notification on sage soyre or blood relatives and for not withdrawing cases filed against the Maratha protestors during the agitation last yearHe alleged that Ajit Pawar was supporting minister and senior NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal even as the latter was against the inclusion of Marathas into the OBC categoryThis is the fourth time in less than a year that Jarange has been observing a hunger strike demanding the inclusion of the Maratha community into the OBC grouping With inputs from PTI