Despite the Maharashtra government on Tuesday, October 31, kicking off the process of issuing Kunbi caste certificates to Marathas in the Marathwada region, pro-Maratha quota protesters have intensified their protests.

The Maharashtra government has accepted the first report of a committee appointed to decide the procedure for granting Kunbi caste certificates to the Marathas in the Marathwada region. The Kunbi community is eligible for reservation in the OBC category.

The state Cabinet also decided that the OBC Commission will collect fresh empirical data to assess educational and social backwardness of the Maratha community. The Cabinet also decided that a three-member panel headed by retired judge Dilip Bhosale and retired judges Sandeep Shinde and Maroti Gaikwad would be formed to advise the government on the legal issues related to the Maratha quota demand, it added.

Pro-Maratha quota protesters intensify protest

Pro-Maratha quota protesters have blocked the Mumbai-Bengaluru Highway in Pune and burnt tyres to press for the demand for reservation, police said.

#WATCH | Pro-Maratha reservation agitators continue their protest on the Pune-Bengaluru highway near Navale bridge in Pune city pic.twitter.com/dp9HBWb4Q2

— ANI (@ANI) October 31, 2023

"...Our government is trying to maintain law & order in the state. The government is paying full attention to those who are trying to instigate and disrupt the law and order in the state. It is the government's duty to give Maratha reservation that is full proof and within the ambit of law. We are working at war footing. The government is positive about giving reservations to Marathas..." Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said.

"A group of protesters blocked the road at Navale bridge on the Mumbai-Bengaluru Highway this afternoon, shouted slogans and set seven to eight tyres on fire," an official from Sinhgad Road police station told PTI.

#WATCH | Pro-Maratha reservation protestors burn tyres on Pune-Bengaluru highway near Navale bridge in Maharashtra's Pune city. The movement of vehicles is affected near the site of the protest. pic.twitter.com/4OGsSGcRhe

— ANI (@ANI) October 31, 2023

The police have beefed up security outside the houses and offices of politicians belonging to the Maratha community in Pune. On Monday, NCP MLA Prakash Solanke's residence was vandalised and set on fire in the Beed district.

A curfew has been imposed in Dharashiv district and parts of Beed district after large-scale violence and arson.

Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange has been continuing his indefinite fast in support of the reservation demand at Antarwali Sarati village in Jalna district since October 25.

(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)

First Published:Oct 31, 2023 7:33 PM IST