Man attempts suicide over Maratha quota issue in Maharashtra

A 28-year-old man hasallegedly tried to commit suicide over the Maratha reservationissue here in Maharashtra, police said on Thursday.

The incident took place around 8 pm on Wednesday atKranti Chowk here when the man consumed poison, they said.

Before consuming the poison, the man in a Facebooklive video blamed the government for the Maratha community notbeing able to get reservation in education and jobs.

In the video, the man, who was seen wearing a cap ofthe Maratha Kranti Morcha, a pro-reservation group, said thecommunity students are facing hurdles in reservation.

''The government is only doing politics in this case,''he alleged in the video.

The police official said they received a call from amember of the Maratha Kranti Morcha about the incident andrushed to the spot.

The man was admitted to a government hospital where heis currently undergoing treatment and is out of danger, anofficial from the hospital said.

The Supreme Court on September 9 last year stayed theimplementation of the the 2018 Maharashtra law grantingreservation to Marathas in education and jobs.

The court had then made made it clear that the statusof those who have availed of the benefits would not bedisturbed.

The SC on Wednesday said it would decide on February 5the schedule of hearing on the pleas pertaining to the law,after the Maharashtra government said a case of this nature beheard once physical hearing commences.

The apex court is currently hearing matters throughvideo-conferencing since March last year in the wake of theCOVID-19 pandemic.

The Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC)Act, 2018 was enacted to grant reservation to people ofMaratha community in Maharashtra in jobs and admissions.

The Bombay High Court, while upholding the law in June2019, had held that 16 per cent reservation was notjustifiable, and said the quota should not exceed 12 per centin employment and 13 per cent in admissions.