CM Devendra Fadnavis agrees to grant reservation as Maratha outfits plan to intensify protests

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday agreed to grant reservation to the Maratha community, a day before the outfits planned to intensify their protest, according to a report by The Hindustan Times.

Fadnavis assured that his government is working towards granting reservation as they have set up a backward class commission to get evidence of social backwardness and ensure reservation was granted to the community.

“Some people have suggested that we issue an ordinance for reservation. We can do that, but such an ordinance will not last even a single day in the courts. Our government is working towards a reservation that can withstand legal scrutiny and get implemented. For that, we have to follow a specific legal procedure as laid down by the apex court in its 1992 order," said Fadnavis.

Also read — Maratha quota rally in Mumbai on August 9 as stir continues

The 1992 Supreme Court order states that if reservation quotas are to be hiked over 50 percent, “extraordinary circumstances and evidence of social backwardness” of the community must be shown by appointing a backward class commission. As of now, Maharashtra has 52 percent reservation for various categories including other backward classes, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in education and government jobs.

An inclusion of reservation for the Maratha community would not impact the existing quota. Fadnavis, however, said a separate law would be enacted in a special session of the state legislature after the commission submits its report.

Maratha groups have announced sit-in protests outside the residences of lawmakers all across the state as well as one at Mumbai’s Azad Maidan from today.

Also read — Maratha Kranti Morcha: All you need to know about the protests in Maharashtra

“Community members will meet their respective legislators and members of Parliament with the memorandum related to our demands with request to raise the issues in their respective houses. They will stage sit-in for a couple of hours outside the houses of the lawmakers. The sit-ins  will go on for eight days,” Shantaram Kunjir, one of the coordinators of Maratha Kranti Morcha (MKM), the umbrella body representing various Maratha outfits, told the paper.

“What is going on in the state today is deeply disturbing,” Fadnavis said on the ongoing agitation, adding that if one looks at reservations only from an emotive angle, then it would only fan anger in the community.

The chief minister said one must understand the legal aspects to ensure reservation for the community. "Our stance is that reservation must sustain and be legally sound,” he said.