Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil has ended his hunger strike and given the Maharashtra government three months to consider his demands for reservations for the Maratha community.
Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil, who had been on an indefinite hunger strike since August 29 to press for Kunbi caste certificates for eligible members of the Maratha community, called off his fast on Thursday. This decision came after a meeting with a government delegation comprising two ministers, legislators and officials in Beed district, where Jarange-Patil had halted on his way to Mumbai. The activist warned that he would launch a protest in Mumbai if his demands were not considered within three months.
The Kunbis form a sub-caste within the Maratha community and are included in the Other Backward Classes (OBC). Jarange-Patil's announcement came after the Maharashtra government initiated a step to address his demands. However, the activist alleged that the state government had failed to honour assurances given in September 2025 and again during his protest in May this year.
The long-standing demand for reservations in education and government jobs for the Maratha community resurfaced in 2023. In February 2024, the Maharashtra legislature passed a bill allowing for a 10% quota in government jobs and education for the Marathas, in addition to the state's existing 52% reservation quota, which includes a 10% quota for the Economically Weaker Sections. This decision is similar to the 16% quota for Marathas under the OBC category introduced in 2018 by the Bharatiya Janata Party and the undivided Shiv Sena government.
The introduction of the 10% quota was blocked by the Supreme Court in 2021, citing the 50% cap on a state’s total reservations that the court had ordered in 1992. The court stated that there were no 'exceptional circumstances' or 'extraordinary situation' in Maharashtra for the state to breach the limit on quotas.
Source:
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