MUMBAI: Forty-year-old Dr Rahul Ghule belongs to the nomadic Vanjari community and hails from Marathwada’s Dharashiv. The son of a teacher, he had availed of the OBC-NT quota to get a seat in Mumbai’s G S Medical College in 2003 and graduated as an MBBS doctor. He has been practising in the city for the last 16 years and is married to an anaesthetist.
As the quota war between the Maratha and OBC communities simmers in Maharashtra, Ghule wrote to CM Eknath Shinde on Monday, saying he wants to give up the reservation and other quota benefits due to his family and children.He also wants to return their caste certificates.
“Today my financial condition is strong. I am in a strong condition financially. I do not want to avail of reservation or other benefits of the OBC-NT quota in education and government schemes for myself and my family. Instead, the quota benefits should be extended to needy members of the community,” Ghule said. ‘s letter says. The doctor set up the One Rupee Clinic in Thane in 2017 and runs a string of these in the city and UP.
He claims that at least 15 doctors in the state from OBC Medicos Association that he set up in 2008 also want to return their caste certificates and give up their quotas.
The fact remains that OBCs in the creamy layer with an annual family income of Rs 8 lakh and above for three consecutive years are in any case excluded from benefiting from quota. The rule seeks to prevent socially advanced OBCs from benefiting from the quota. However, the doctors are keen on making this gesture.
“The Maratha-OBC stir has created a social rift. If the wealthy give up their reservation, then the quota will go to the poor and such conflicts will end,” Ghule feels. The group has launched the “Leave reservation, unite society” campaign.
Why not simply choose not to avail of the quota without making it a public campaign? “We want to spread the message to the privileged in different quota categories,” he says.
Two others who work in Ghule’s clinics say they plan to do the same. Dr Vaibhav Malave is based in Kalyan and belongs to the Sonar community. Anil Choudhary, who hails from Dhule, belongs to the Teli community. “Our caste will remain the same throughout our lives. But we do not need reservations life-long or for future generations once we are financially secure,” says Malave.
As the quota war between the Maratha and OBC communities simmers in Maharashtra, Ghule wrote to CM Eknath Shinde on Monday, saying he wants to give up the reservation and other quota benefits due to his family and children.He also wants to return their caste certificates.
“Today my financial condition is strong. I am in a strong condition financially. I do not want to avail of reservation or other benefits of the OBC-NT quota in education and government schemes for myself and my family. Instead, the quota benefits should be extended to needy members of the community,” Ghule said. ‘s letter says. The doctor set up the One Rupee Clinic in Thane in 2017 and runs a string of these in the city and UP.
He claims that at least 15 doctors in the state from OBC Medicos Association that he set up in 2008 also want to return their caste certificates and give up their quotas.
The fact remains that OBCs in the creamy layer with an annual family income of Rs 8 lakh and above for three consecutive years are in any case excluded from benefiting from quota. The rule seeks to prevent socially advanced OBCs from benefiting from the quota. However, the doctors are keen on making this gesture.
“The Maratha-OBC stir has created a social rift. If the wealthy give up their reservation, then the quota will go to the poor and such conflicts will end,” Ghule feels. The group has launched the “Leave reservation, unite society” campaign.
Why not simply choose not to avail of the quota without making it a public campaign? “We want to spread the message to the privileged in different quota categories,” he says.
Two others who work in Ghule’s clinics say they plan to do the same. Dr Vaibhav Malave is based in Kalyan and belongs to the Sonar community. Anil Choudhary, who hails from Dhule, belongs to the Teli community. “Our caste will remain the same throughout our lives. But we do not need reservations life-long or for future generations once we are financially secure,” says Malave.
