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The Maharashtra Assembly on Thursday unanimously passed a Bill, providing 16 per cent reservation for the Maratha community in government jobs and educational institutions. The additional reservation has breached the existing 52 per cent reservation limit in the State.
The reservation will now go up to 68 per cent and will be applicable to only those members of the Maratha, who are not a part of the 'creamy layer' of the community. Reservations will be provided to a new category that has been created — the socially and educationally backward class. This will reduce the share of the open category to 32 per cent.
Report also tabled
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who tabled the Bill, thanked the Opposition members for helping in the unanimous passage of the Bill. He also tabled the Action Taken Report (ATR) on State Backward Class Commission (SBCC), which is the main report based on which recommendations for reservation to the Maratha community have been provided. The recommendations of the SBCC’s report on the social, educational and financial status of the Maratha community were also tabled.
The Maratha community will be entitled to reservation benefits and advantages enshrined in the Articles 15(4) and 16(4) of the Constitution, the report said.
In June 2017, the State Backward Class Commission was asked to study the social, financial and educational status of the Maratha community. The Commission surveyed 40,962 families, conducted public hearings at 21 locations and received 1,93,651 personal memorandums.
Proof of struggle
Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) President Ashok Chavan told reporters that the Sakal Maratha Samaj had raised the demand for Maratha reservation through 58 morchas across Maharashtra. The passage of the Maratha reservation Act in the Assembly is proof of the struggle.
The Congress Government’s decision to grant Maratha reservation has finally been implemented today, he said. He pointed that the Congress Government had granted reservations to the Maratha community earlier, but this decision was challenged in the Bombay High Court. The BJP-Shiv Sena government delayed the formation of the Backward Classes Commission and the completion of legal formalities for more than four years.
Senior NCP leader Dhananjay Munde said that the State Government finally had to bow down to pressure from the Maratha community and heed to their demands, “It is a happy and momentous occasion in my life”, he said.
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