india

Updated: May 13, 2019 08:27 IST

A group of members of the Maratha community has announced that it will hold a rally at Azad Maidan on Monday to protest against the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the 16% Maratha reservation for postgraduate medical seats this year. The group wants the state to reserve seats for Maratha students by enforcing an ordinance.

Following the Apex court’s decision, the Maharashtra Common Entrance Test (CET) Cell had issued a notice of cancellation of admissions under the socially and educationally backward classes (SEBC) quota. Around 290 students from the state have been affected by it.

On Sunday, coordinators of Maratha Kranti Morcha in Mumbai staged a symbolic protest at Azad Maidan. They had also planned to gherao the chief minister’s official residence ‘Varsha’ at Malabar Hill but were detained by the police till 6pm.

“We have decided to hold a protest on Monday and have requested community members from Mumbai, Thane, Pune, and Nashik to participate in the agitation as we want justice for our students,” said Virendra Pawar, organiser of the agitation.

Pawar said the state can use section 17 of the SEBC Act which enables it to use special powers to remove any difficulty in implementing the provisions of said act.