Two Weeks, 300 Cops And A Bill Worth Crores: What It Cost Jalna To Manage Maratha Quota Stir

Antarwali Sarati emerged as ground zero of the Maratha quota agitation, putting the district administration under pressure to maintain law & order while managing logistical demands

The Maratha quota agitation led by activist Manoj Jarange Patil may have been called off, but for the Jalna district administration, the past two weeks have involved a massive, multi-crore management exercise. From security and crowd management to civic arrangements, the administration and local governments were tasked with handling the fallout of a protest that drew large crowds to Antarwali Sarati and carried ramifications far beyond the community.

Antarwali Sarati emerged as the ground zero of the Maratha reservation agitation, putting the district administration under pressure to maintain law and order while managing the logistical demands of the mobilisation. With the agitation now called off, the scale of the administrative operation offers a closer look at what it took to manage a large-scale protest in a district that has been at the centre of the reservation movement.