CM Shinde announces special session for Maratha quota in February

“After we take the report from the commission, a special session of the state legislature will be held in February 2024 to give reservation to Marathas,” Shinde said. “We need to prove exceptional and extraordinary circumstances whereby social and educational backwardness of Marathas will be decided,” he said.

The Opposition slammed the state government for not mentioning the issue of caste census. “The only way to give reservation to Marathas is to have caste census, but nowhere did the Chief Minister mention this. There was no clarity on how Rs 360 crore will be spent. The government should answer,” said Congress MLA and Maharashtra Congress Chief Nana Patole.

Shinde’s announcement comes days before the deadline of December 24 set by Maratha activist Manoj Jarange-Patil seeking Kunbi (OBC) certificate for Marathas. During his speech, Shinde said several times that the reservation for Marathas will not impact that of any other community.

Justice (Retired) Sandeep Shinde committee appointed by the state government to finalise the procedure to give Kunbi certificate to Marathas submitted its second report of 403- pages to Shinde on Monday. “It will be given to the Law and Judiciary department now and after legal scrutiny, it will be placed before the state cabinet,” he said.

Shinde stressed that evidence from before 1967 will be considered when giving Kunbi certificate, which will also extend to certificate holders’ blood relatives. “I have taken the oath of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj to give reservation to Marathas. I will take oath for any community which needs help, not only for Marathas,” said Shinde. He added that any individual who tries to get a fake caste certificate will be dealt with seriously.

The CM added that the present pending curative petition in the Supreme Court too would be dealt with by the legal team of the state government where additional statistical data and information will be shared within the Supreme Court.