Maharashtra to introduce bill on Tuesday to extend reservation to Marathas

According to sources, the report, though not made public, has confirmed the social and educational backwardness of Marathas. It has put the onus on the state government on finding the way to extend reservation to Marathas.

“We will call a special session of the legislature on February 20 to discuss the issue of Maratha reservation based on the report. We will first table it in front of the cabinet. We are positive on this issue of giving reservation to Marathas without harming the reservation of OBCs,” Shinde had said.

In June 2017, the then Devendra Fadnavis government had constituted the Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission (MSBCC) headed by Justice (retired) MG Gaikwad to study the social, financial and educational status of the Maratha community.

The Commission submitted its report in November 2018, classifying Marathas as a socially and educationally backward class (SEBC). The same month, the Maharashtra Assembly unanimously passed a Bill proposing 16 per cent reservation in education and government jobs for Marathas.

The Bombay High Court upheld the Constitutional validity of the reservation law but reduced the quota to 12 per cent in education and 13 per cent in jobs. In the Supreme Court, the matter was referred to a five-member Constitution bench, which unanimously agreed that there was no need to revisit the 1992 Indra Sawhney judgement that had fixed the total reservation limit at 50 per cent, and unanimously struck down the state law granting reservation to the Marathas.

CM Shinde has also appealed to Maratha social activist Manoj Jarange Patil to call off his fast demanding reservation to Marathas saying that the government is working on positive mode and therefore it is not required to protest demanding the same. Following the demand made by Jarange Patil, the Maharashtra government had issued a notification of draft of amended rules for giving Kunbi (OBC) certificate to Marathas where the word ‘Sage-soyare’ referring to the extended family that has been included.