Massive rally by OBCs to push for demands

Staff Reporter

A massive rally was taken out by the constituents of OBC in the city on Monday. The organisers of the ongoing agitation at Samvidhan Square said the protest would continue until the State Government held formal talks on their demands. All the organisations of OBC have joined hands to oppose any move on part of the State Government to grant reservations to the Maratha community by tagging them as Kunbi, a caste recognised as OBC. To diffuse the agitation by protagonists of Maratha reservation in Jalna, the Chief Minister and other constitutional functionaries said the former having genealogy of Kunbi would be considered as OBC. This has riled the OBC community, which though not against granting reservation to Marathas, are opposed to their inclusion in their share.

Since last fortnight, a chain hunger strike in on at Samvidhan Square with Rashtriya OBC Mahasangh under leadership of Dr Babanrao Taywade taking the lead. A call was given for morcha to District Collectorate and a massive turn out was seen in it as leaders cutting across political spectrum joined the cause. The morcha caused traffic snarls in the Civil Lines area, particularly at busy RBI Square, at start of the week. People from all walks of life joined the morcha in a show of unity and later a delegation submitted a memorandum at Collectorate addressed to Governor, Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister and others. The Mahasangh demands included caste census on line of Bihar, Maharashtra Government should recommend lifting 50 per cent ceiling on reservation to Central Government, 52 per cent reservation for 52 per cent OBCs, Maharashtra Government should start 72 Hostels for OBC students at the earliest, Swadhar Yojana should be implemented for OBCs etc.