Day after Shiv Jayanti, Shinde Sarkar affirms 10 pc reservation for Marathas

A day after birth anniversary of the great Marath Leader Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the Maharashtra government led by Eknath Shinde approved the draft of the bill for 10% Maratha reservation in education and government jobs, extending the reservation to Marathas above the 50 per cent threshold.

 

The government on Tuesday held a special Vidhan Sabha session for one day wherein Maratha reservation was the key agenda. The special session was held days after Chief Minister Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis assured Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange-Patil of the same. The assurance from Shinde and Fadnavis came as Jarange-Patil was fasting continuously for the seventh day and his health condition started deteriorating.

 

On february 16, the Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission had submitted a report on its survey on the social, economic, and educational backwardness of the Maratha community. The report will enable the government to introduce a law ensuring reservation for the Maratha community with the backing of necessary data, the CMO said.

 

The massive exercise covered nearly 2.5 crore families. The report was submitted by chairperson of the commission Justice (retd) Sunil Shukre to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

 

 

 

Shinde has stressed that Marathas will be given reservation without disturbing the existing quota of other communities.

 

The survey by the backward class panel began on January 23 across Maharashtra, involving 3.5 to 4 lakh state government personnel, and it covered 2.5 crore families.

 

The government, in a parallel exercise, had also begun looking for Kunbi records. Kunbi, an agrarian community, falls in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category, and activist Manoj Jarange has been demanding Kunbi certificates for all Marathas.

 

The government got the survey on the backwardness of Marathas to support its curative petition in the Supreme Court in connection with the quota for the community.

 

 

Jarange rejected any proposal for independent Maratha reservation beyond the 50% cap, asserting that the Maratha community's demand for reservation from the OBC quota fits within the cap. He insisted that Maratha community members should be given reservation based on Kunbi records and under the ‘Sage Soyare’ terminology. Jarange threatened to label legislators who attempt to sidetrack the issue during the assembly session as ‘anti-Maratha’.

 

 

He also hinted at a possible halt in talks with the government from Wednesday and the formulation of an action plan for further agitation. Jarange, who is on a hunger strike at Antarwali Sarati over the reservation demand, expressed hope that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis would pass the ‘Sage Soyare’ legislation during the special session.