Mumbai: The Maharashtra cabinet has approved a draft bill introducing a 10 percent quota for Marathas, which will be tabled later Tuesday in a one-day special session of the state assembly convened for this purpose.
The bill — which will extend the state’s total reservations in government jobs and educational institutions beyond the 50 percent cap imposed by a 1992 Supreme Court judgment — follows a report submitted by the Maharashtra Backward Classes Commission (MBCC). This report classifies Marathas as socially and educationally backward and cites “extraordinary circumstances” to justify exceeding the reservation cap.
The decision was prompted by the hunger strike that Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil is now on at the Antarwali Saarati village in Jalna district.
The bill is similar to the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes Act, 2018, which was introduced by the then Devendra Fadnavis government.
The MBCC was constituted in June 2017 by then chief minister Fadnavis. It submitted its report in November 2018, classifying Marathas as a socially and educationally backward (SEBC) class. The Fadnavis government introduced the SEBC Act the same month, introducing reservations for Marathas.
However, in 2021, the Supreme Court had struck down the act. The top court said there were no exceptional circumstances to justify the breach of the 50 percent on overall reservations. After the 2021 verdict, Maharashtra filed a review plea, which was also rejected. It then filed a curative petition.
The fresh reservation has been extended based on a report submitted to the state government by the MBCC, headed by chairman Justice (retired) Sunil Shukre. The report placed last Friday surveyed 2.5 crore Maratha households to assess the community’s social and educational backwardness within a span of nine days.
The state already has a 10 percent quota for the Economically Weaker Section (EWS), in which the Marathas get 85 percent.
Last week, Shinde had said his government would give reservation to the Maratha community without making any changes in other communities’ reservations.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
Also read: Maratha quota: Shinde govt using deceptive tactics, says MKM’s Lakhe Patil