Maratha activists protest outside Vikhe Patil’s residence in Mumbai

Pune: Members of the Maratha community staged an agitation outside the official residence of cabinet minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil on Tuesday, claiming that govt failed to keep its promises made to Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange.

Vikhe Patil heads the cabinet sub-committee formed to look into the Maratha reservation issue and had visited Antarwali Sarati in Jalna district after Jarange started his agitation on May 30. Following assurances from Vikhe Patil, Jarange withdrew his agitation.

On Tuesday, Ramesh Kere, a protester, said govt promised to issue Kunbi certificates as per the Hyderabad Gazette. “Govt in the GR has mentioned that only those members who have documents before 1967 with the Kunbi mention, are eligible for the certificates and avail reservation benefits. However, we want Kunbi certificates for all members of the Maratha community from Marathwada region. Since govt is not fulfilling the promises, we had to stage an agitation at Vikhe Patil’s residence,” he said.