Mumbai: The Matang community protested near BMC headquarters and outside Azad Maidan Tuesday to demand the creation of a separate sub-category with reservation for them within the Scheduled Caste (SC) reservation quota.
The protesters said the community alleged that most benefits are cornered by relatively stronger communities within the 59 sub-castes that come under the Scheduled Castes category. Reacting to the morcha, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said, “Our position is to unanimously undertake sub-classification within the Scheduled Castes, in accordance with the Supreme Court’s judgement, so that those who have not benefited from reservation so far can also avail themselves of its benefits.
They said it was a one-day protest, but they would decide the further course of action based on the outcome of the meeting with govt. Ganpat Bhise from Parbhani, who led a group of protesters, said, “We demand two sub-divisions among the SC category, Deprived SC and Other SC, and the present reservation divided between the two, for the benefit of the Matang community. They claimed that despite the community being the second-largest among the SCs, the quota benefit does not reach them and is mostly enjoyed by the stronger sub-community in the SC category. Heavy police bandobast was deployed to control the crowd as more than a thousand protesters converged from across the state. BJP MLC Amit Gorkhe and MLA Sunil Kamble along with other leaders represented the community during discussions with govt. It was stated that minister Girish Mahajan was appointed by govt to talk with the community leaders and they had two rounds of talks till Tuesday night but were unable to reach any conclusion. The protesters demanded written assurance from govt.
The protesters blocked the road near BMC headquarters, affecting traffic flow on Tuesday.
You Can Also Check: Gold Rate in Mumbai | Silver Rate in Mumbai | Bank Holidays in Mumbai | Public Holidays in Mumbai | Mumbai AQI | Weather in Mumbai | Petrol Price in Mumbai | Diesel Price in Mumbai | CNG Price in Mumbai | LPG Price in Mumbai Stay updated with the latest Mumbai news.
Protester Ashok Uphade said no IAS or IPS officer has emerged from the community. “We are not demanding a separate caste classification, just a sub-category promising our community reservation in education and jobs from existing SC reservation quota. Download the TOI App.