Maha assembly clears 10% Maratha quota bill

The Maharashtra Legislature unanimously passed a bill reserving 10% of the seats in educational institutions and the same proportion of government jobs for people from the Maratha community in the third such attempt by the state government to carve out a quota for the once-dominant agrarian community, after similar laws enacted in 2014 and 2019 were struck down by the courts.

- Surendra P Gangan

In the bill passed by both houses of the state legislature, the Maharashtra government cited the findings of a report submitted by the Maharashtra State Commission for Backward Classes (MSCBC) as the basis for the reservation. The report stated that the Marathas account for 28% of Maharashtra's population, and are in an "exceptional circumstances and extraordinary condition" of backwardness, making it a fit case for reservation over the 50% ceiling mandated by the Supreme Court. The 10% quota is over and above the existing 62% reservation in the state, which includes 10% for those belonging to economically weaker sections (EWS) and remaining 52% caste-based quota.

Chief minister Eknath Shinde, who tabled the bill in both houses, said that the Supreme Court, in its verdict in May 2021, empowered the government to list the backward classes for reservation. "The reservation has been given on firm grounds without disturbing the existing quota. The reservation will withstand legal scrutiny and be sustained entirely as we have addressed the flaws pointed out by the Supreme Court while quashing the previous quota given in 2018," he said.

The bill, Maharashtra State Reservation for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes Act 2024, stated that the community does not require reservation in politics as it is adequately represented in the political field of the state. If the reservation if not provided on urgent basis, the community would denigrate even further leading to complete social imbalance, social exclusion and inequation and social injustice, it stated.