In a bid to bolster the law for reservation, prominent quota activist Manoj Jarange has urged members of the Maratha community to take action by submitting memorandums to their respective MLAs. Jarange made this appeal during a press briefing held at Antarwali Sarati village, marking the initiation of his four-day tour across various regions including Ahmednagar, Pune, Navi Mumbai, Mumbai, Nashik, and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.

“People from the Maratha community should present memorandums to MLAs in their respective areas and appeal to them to raise their voice as and when a special session of the state legislature is convened to strengthen the law for reservation,” Jarange emphasized.

Scheduled to convene a community meeting at Antarwali Sarati on February 10, Jarange announced his intention to commence a hunger strike thereafter. At 40 years of age, Jarange has been at the forefront of the agitation for reservation since August of the previous year, advocating for Kunbi certificates for all Marathas to facilitate their access to government job and educational quotas.

Expressing dissatisfaction with the government’s handling of caste certificate distribution, Jarange stated, “I will start fasting on February 10, as the government has not given details of the caste certificates it has distributed. It also appears that the committee is not doing its work in Marathwada, where records are found in large numbers.”

Furthermore, Jarange alleged a lack of transparency regarding the status of utilizing data from the gazettes of Satara, Mumbai, and Nizam state to grant Kunbi caste certificates, despite the government’s earlier agreement to consider this approach.

Jarange’s recent march to Mumbai, culminating in his arrival on January 26, prompted the Maharashtra government to issue a draft notification aiming to recognize all blood relatives of Maratha community members, whose Kunbi caste records have been uncovered, as Kunbis.