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#MarathaReservations: Maharashtra assembly grants 16% reservations to Marathas

#MarathaReservations: Maharashtra assembly grants 16% reservations to Marathas

Nov 29, 2018
02:56 pm

What's the story

A bit more than a week after Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced that the Maratha community would get reservations in government jobs and educational institutes, the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, on Thursday, unanimously passed the reservation bill. The Maratha community has been awarded 16% reservation in jobs and education under the social and educationally backward category (SEBC). Here are the details.

Details

Maharashtra government feels that 16% reservation is justified

Earlier in the day, Maharashtra CM Fadnavis introduced the bill and the action taken report (ATR) on the Maharashtra State Backward Classes Commission's (MSBCC) recommendations. The draft of the bill, along with copies of the ATR, were circulated among assembly members, and the government said that it felt that awarding 16% reservation to the Maratha community was "justified".

Report

The government will not make the MSBCC report public

On Monday, the Maharashtra government had made it clear that it would not make the MSBCC report public, but would only table it in the state legislature. Commenting on the government's decision, Maharashtra Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil had said that the government would not make the report public, as its findings could be challenged in court. However, some details had been leaked earlier.

Leak

What we know about the report

Reportedly, the MSBCC had found that 37.8% of Marathas were below the poverty line - higher than the 25% base line. Further, it found that over 60% of Marathas lived in mud houses, while 62.78% of Marathas had small or marginal landholdings. These indicators were beyond what was required to be classified as a backward community. However, it's worth noting that these findings were contradictory to findings by earlier backward classes commissions.

Agitation

The Martha community had been agitating for reservations since 2017

The Maratha community, which accounts for over 30% of Maharashtra's population, had been agitating for reservations in government jobs and educational institutes since 2017. In August this year, the agitations intensified as thousands of Marathas took the streets. Violence broke out in Pune and Aurangabad resultant of the protests, and mass demonstrations took place in Mumbai and Thane.