Maharashtra Assembly Passes Maratha Reservation Bill For 10 Per Cent Quota In Education, Jobs

Maharashtra Assembly on Tuesday (20 February) unanimously passed the bill extending 10 percent reservation to Marathas under the socially and economically backward cateogry in education and job sectors. 

 The Maharashtra State Socially and Educationally Backward Bill 2024, once enacted, will undergo a thorough review after a decade of implementation.

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Chief Minister Eknath Shinde tabled the bill based on a report submitted to the state government by the Maharashtra Backward Class Commission (MBCC) headed by chairman Justice (Retired) Sunil Shukre.

The report was based on a survey covering nearly 2.5 crore families. This survey meticulously explores the social, economic, and educational backwardness faced by the Maratha community in the state.

With passing of the bill of 10 per cent Maratha reservation under socially and educationally backward category in jobs and education, the total reservation in Maharashtra will go up to 62 percent. 

In the state, following the 2001 State Reservation Act, the total reservation was 52 per cent. This included quotas for Scheduled Caster (13 per cent), Scheduled Tribes (7 per cent), Other Backward Classes (19 per cent), Special Backward Class (2 per cent), Vimukta Jati (3 per cent), Nomadic Tribe B (2.5 per cent), Nomadic Tribe C-Dhangar (3.5 per cent) and Nomadic Tribe D-Vanjari (2 per cent). 

Meanwhile, Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange today said it does not matter if the Maharashtra government grants 10 or 20 per cent reservation as long as the quota comes under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category and is not separate.

"The government is giving us what we don't want. We want a reservation in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category, but they are giving us a separate quota instead. If the government doesn't discuss and implement the draft notification on the reservation for blood relatives of Kunbi Marathas, we will decide on the course of the agitation tomorrow," the activist said, as quoted by news agency PTI.

"A separate reservation outside the OBC category might pose legal challenges, as it could exceed the 50 per cent reservation cap," he added.

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