The Patels have escalated protests in Gujarat since last year demanding rservation in government jobs and education. (File Photo)
Not impressed by the Gujarat government announcing 10 per cent reservation for economically weaker sections among the upper castes, including Patels, the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) spearheading the quota agitation is launching from Sunday a week-long Swarnim Lollipop Mahotsav protest across the state.
The protest comes as the movement waits for its leader Hardik Patel to be freed after nearly 200 days in jail.
Though the government's decision has been forced by the nine-month-long agitation by the Patels, their leaders are unhappy with it for there is nothing specific for the Patidars.
This is because the 10 per cent reservation is for all among the upper castes whose annual incomes are less than Rs 6 lakh. They have called the quota announcement a mere "lollipop to the Patels".
"Beginning tomorrow, Gujarat's Foundation Day, we are launching Swarnim Lollipop Mahotsav (golden lollipop festival), across the length and breadth of Gujarat. We will distribute lollipops among children in all the villages and towns to mark our protest," Dharmik Malaviya, the Surat co-convenor of PAAS, told IANS on Saturday.
He said they are unhappy not only because the 10 per cent quota does not do anything for the Patels but also because the state government did not even wait for their leader, Hardik Patel, who had started the agitation last July, to be released from jail where he is lodged since last October on sedition charges.
"The understanding was that after Hardik bhai is released, we will sit with the mediators and the government to arrive at a mutually acceptable decision. The government did not bother and imposed the 10 percent decision on us which is a joke," Mr Malaviya said.
"How do they expect to implement the decision which is constitutionally not tenable? Rajasthan tried it in 2007 and again in 2015 but the Supreme Court dismissed it since the Constitution does not provide for reservations on economic criteria. They have not bothered to explain to us how they will implement it nor what the Patels will specifically gain from this," he added.
He said the Patels have suffered a lot during the last nine months since the government unleashed the police on them instead of talking with them about their concerns.
Hardik Patel, 22, shot to prominence in August last year after he launched the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti, addressing a huge public meeting attended by several lakh Patidars from across Gujarat seeking inclusion of the community in the other backward classes (OBC) category for reservations.