List of demands grows, draft to government on October 15

KOLHAPUR

: The Maratha organisations rallying across the state have put forth a fresh set of demands from the state government, including setting up of an institute to guide students for competitive exams and hostels at each of the district headquarters.

A 'common draft' of demands will be submitted to the state government during the 'Maratha Kranti Mukh Morcha' scheduled in Kolhapur on October 15.

So far, the organisations have taken out over 20 massive rallies in different parts of the state demanding harsher punishment to the culprits in the

Kopardi

rape case and changes in the SC and ST Prevention of Atrocities Act.

The community has also demanded reservation, loan waiver and pension to farmers and increasing the limit for economically backward category (

EBC

) students. The rally at Kolhapur will be the last of the rallies to be taken out at district headquarters before the mega rally planned in Mumbai.

Rajendra Kondare of

Maratha Mahasangh

said, "Apart from existing demands, organisations at each of the rallies taken out a few other demands that need to be addressed. We are preparing the 'common draft' of the demands, which will be submitted to the government. The new demands include setting up of an institute to be named after

Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj

for increasing the educational competence among the students, which will be on the lines of Babasaheb Ambedkar Research and Training Institute (BARTI)."

The institute will help guide students from the Maratha community to appear for the competitive exams and various professional sectors. The Maratha organisations are going to demand setting up of 'Maratha Hostels' at each of the district headquarters especially at Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Kolhapur, Nagpur, where the poor students and youths from the community find it difficult to get accommodation.

"We have found that a government officer belonging to Maratha community hardly gets promotions. We want some mechanism to ensure that officers of Maratha community are at the helm of decision-making and framing policies. At most places, the Maratha officer is deliberately rejected promotion for ten years to twenty years. We are going to demand that the state government should set up study group to suggest measures to ensure that Maratha officers get their due during promotions," said Kondare.

The state government has decided to constitute district-level committees under the guardian ministers to discuss the concerns of the Maratha community directly with the affected people. It is learnt that the state government has decided to give a look at the demands that directly concern the poor from the Maratha community.