Pune bandh: Maratha Kranti Morcha seeks periodic review of reservation, calls for strike in parts of city today

PUNE: Members of the Maratha Kranti Morcha on Wednesday demanded that the state government “should do periodic review” of the reservation percentage given to various social classes and called for a bandh in Aundh, Baner, Balewadi areas on Thursday.
A token hunger strike would be organised near the Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak’s statue in Mandai at 10am. The Morcha members stressed that the state government should scrap the criminal charges filed against the agitators of Maratha Kranti Morcha.They also demanded that the police personnel involved in beating up the agitators should be taken to task.
“The law has made a mandatory provision of reviewing the reservation percentage. It should be done every decade. The state should do this exercise to cross-verify the percentage of reservation and actual number of beneficiaries,” said Rajendra Kondhare, one of the members of the Morcha, at a press conference on Wednesday. The decision on adding up or removing beneficiaries could be taken based on the progress of the community after the periodic review, another remember said.
The outfit’s members said the issues of Maratha reservation should be addressed at the earliest.
“The government should not give hollow promises. They should not try to reap political benefits out of this issue,” said Sachin Adkar, member of the group.