They have threatened to launch a state wide agitation if their demands are unfulfilled.
The Patel community’s agitation for reservation has given a fillip to other communities like Marathas and Brahmins to come forward and make similar demands. The agitation has already turned violent with several protestors pelting stones and vandalising vehicles in Gujarat. Even though the erstwhile Democratic Front had announced 16 per cent reservation for Marathas in public employment the High Court had asked the state not to grant separate reservation for the community. The total ceiling of the reservation has already crossed 50 per cent in the state.
The court made the observation while directing the government not to keep 16% posts in public employment vacant for the community. Instead, the bench granted the government liberty to fill in such seats on temporary or ad-hoc basis till the time the petitions challenging the validity of the decision are decided by the court.
The Maratha reservation was a poll plank of the Democratic Front government which has now failed to materialise. Most of the Congress and NCP leaders belong to the Maratha community which comprise around 35 per cent of the state’s population. The Marathas can play a vital role in deciding the outcome of polls in the state. It is dominant in Western Maharashtra, Marathwada and Vidarbha. Its significance could be judged with a fact that 191 out of the 288 members in the outgoing Assembly belonged to this caste.
Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil said, “The state government should provide reservation to Maratha, Muslims and Dhangar community within 15 days failing which we will block the vehicles of legislators. After coming to power the Fadnavis government had promised to grant reservation to the Dhangar community but they have failed to implement it.”
Brahmins too are imposing pressure on the state government to provide reservation to them in education and jobs. They have threatened to launch a state wide agitation if their demands are unfulfilled. Brahmins have suffered the most due to the reservation policy as many youth belonging to this community are unable to get admission in prestigious colleges despite scoring higher percentage. Reservation system was meant to continue only till few years but politicians had continued it for seeking votes.
“Reservation is ground to play political games and politicians are playing it. We must fight against reservation,” Sumit Saxena a Borivali resident.
“Today more than 80 per cent of the taxi and auto drivers belong to Brahmin community. Thus Brahmins are struggling to find employment despite possessing education qualifications,” said Amar Dubey, an auto driver.
“Injustice has been meted against the Brahmin community. Either the government must provide reservation to Brahmins or abolish the entire reservation system. Nowadays, deserving candidates are unable to get employment due to the faulty reservation policy,” said Satish Rohankar a private firm employee from Andheri.
“Reservation is not a real solution to the uplifting of a community. The political party and politician play the reservation card for vote-bank politics. So long as reservation is being practised in an unhealthy manner, India can never think of improving the community as a whole. It is a perfect practice of breeding mediocrity,” said Pravin Singh, a Kandivali resident.
“Politicians try to loot the country in the name of providing social justice. Today we find a very competitive society, where persons with better skills alone could survive. Without making concerted efforts to improve the capacity-building, reservation would go to the undeserving,” said Ravi Baisare, a Dahisar resident.
The Patels have for decades been loyal supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party, but their recent agitation has now put the economically and socially strong community at loggerheads with the ruling party. Hardik Patel, the 22-year-old leader of the Patel community and Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti convenor, is spearheading the community’s quota agitation.
