Gujarat to study Maha OBC panel report on Marathas: Rupani

Amid the ongoing stir in Gujarat for granting reservation to the Patidars under the OBC category, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani Monday said his government would study the report on Maratha reservation submitted by the Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission.

Rupani's comments came hours after Patidar quota leader Hardik Patel demanded a survey of his community's status by the Gujarat OBC Commission.

Asked about his stand on Patidar reservation, Rupani said his government has also sought details of the approval given by the Maharashtra Cabinet to the recommendations of the OBC commission of the neighbouring state.

"Maharashtra government, its Cabinet, has granted their approval (to the report). Further details are yet to come out.

"We have sought all those details (from the Maharashtra government)," he told reporters in Bhuj town of Kutch district when asked about his government's stand on granting reservation to the Patidars.

"We have also sought the report on Maratha reservation to know what it contains. We will study it first and then take a call later on," Rupani said.

On Sunday, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had announced his government has accepted the State Backward Class Commission's report and decided to give quota in jobs and educational institutes to the Maratha community.

Meanwhile, some members of the Hardik-led Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) Monday went to the office of Gujarat OBC Commission in Gandhinagar to seek an appointment with its chairman to discuss the issue of conducting a survey in the state for granting reservation to Patidars.

The Gujarat OBC Commission is headed by retired High Court Justice Sugnyaben Bhatt.

In a letter submitted to the commission, PAAS convener Nikhil Savani said just like Maharashtra, a survey should be done by the Gujarat OBC Commission for the Patidars.

Talking to reporters in Ahmedabad, Hardik Patel said if Maharashtra can give quota to the Marathas by conducting a survey (to determine their social-economic-educational status) , the same procedure cane be followed in Gujarat.

"If Maharashtra can do it, why not Gujarat? By not following such procedure of survey, the BJP government here is clearly working against the Constitutional provisions. This government is playing with our sentiments for the last three years," Hardik Patel claimed.

"We have been demanding since the beginning that a survey of Patidars be conducted. It will make things clear. I will meet the Commission in the newt few days to put forward this demand," he added.