‘Upset’ Nitin Raut meets CM Thackeray, meeting next week on quota in promotions

Upset that the issue of reservation in promotions was not discussed in the state Cabinet on Thursday, Energy Minister Nitin Raut met Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray afterwards at his official residence Varsha in Mumbai and demanded that the quota, scrapped earlier this month, be reintroduced. Raut, who is from the Congress, told mediapersons that a meeting would be held next Tuesday with the CM to “resolve the issue”.

Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde said that some ministers had raised issue in the Cabinet meeting, but it would be discussed at a separate meeting.

Days after the Supreme Court struck down the quota for the Maratha community in government jobs and education, the state government scrapped a quota for 33 per cent reservation in promotions for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Vimukti Jati and Nomadic Tribes and Special Backward Classes categories. Sources in the ruling coalition said the NCP is opposed to the reintroduction of a quota in promotions.

Those opposed to the quota have on their side a Bombay High Court order striking it down in 2017. The appeal against the order is pending before the SC, but the Maha Vikas Aghadi government had begun to implement the quota.

A government resolution (GR) issued by the state general administration department on May 7 had also cited the Bombay High Court decision as the reason behind scrapping the promotion quota.

In March the government had issued a GR regarding its decision to promote state officers on the basis of 33 per cent quota. The decision to scrap the reservation was taken by the state two days after the Supreme Court judgment came, quashing the quota for the Maratha community in the first week of May.