Kranti Morcha plans `1L dole for kin of 37 ‘martyred’ youths

The Maratha Kranti Morcha and the state government are again on a collision course. Giving an ultimatum to start a fresh protest against the Devendra Fadnavis government over the death of 37 people during Thok (hit) Morcha (in oppose to silent or muk morcha), the Maratha Kranti Morcha (MKM) has decided to compensate `1 lakh each to the kin of the 37 deceased out of their own quota.

MKM criticised the state government for giving false assurances about the compensation and government jobs to one of the family members of the 37 deceased Marathi youth for the cause of the community.

The government assured of a final decision of implementing reservation to the community by November 15. As the deadline approaches, the community leaders are becoming even more aggressive over unkept promises.

Accusing the government of failing to fulfil its assurance, the morcha would give a compensation of `1 lakh each to the kin of the deceased at a function at the Yashwantrao Chavan Centre Auditorium near Mantralaya on Monday morning.

The morcha activists, it is expectd, will meet soon to decide their future course of action. “We will distribute compensation as a social responsibility towards the community,” said Mahesh Dongre, convener of the Morcha.

“About 37 youths killed themselves by taking Jal Samadhi or hanging themselves during the protests against the government asking it to meet the demands of the Maratha community. The morcha has demanded `10 lakh as compensation for the family and a job to his kin. However, the government is yet to respond. Hence, we have decided to help the families by collecting money at our level,” said Dongre.

During their statewide bandh, Kranti Din, on August 9 this year, the morcha asked the government to pay `50 lakh compensation to the kin of the deceased, (terming them as martyrs) Maratha protesters, government job to one of the kin, probe by special investigation team against officers responsible for the deaths of Kakasaheb Shinde and Todkar and filing of the cases against the culprits, special session of legislative assembly and council be convened immediately over the Maratha reservation issue.

Following the protest, a few legislators, including Shiv Sena ex-legislator Harshawardhan Jadhav, resigned.