Special assembly session in February on Maratha quota, announces CM Shinde

If the Supreme Court turns down the contention of Maratha backwardness, a fresh bill will be introduced during the special session.

NAGPUR: Ahead of the December 24 deadline set by Maratha activist Manoj Jarange-Patil for a reservation quota, chief minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday announced a special session of the state legislature in February to discuss the issue. However, he did not accept Jarange-Patil’s demand that all Marathas be included in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category by giving them Kunbi caste certificates.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde (ANI)

Successive governments have enacted laws in response to reservation demands by the influential Maratha community, but these have all been quashed by the Bombay high court and Supreme Court on the grounds that the backwardness of the community was debatable. Shinde in the assembly said that his government would prove it if the SC allowed an open hearing in the curative petition filed before it.

Read here: Jarange-Patil refuses to extend Dec 24 deadline for Maratha reservations

“We will present data to prove the community’s backwardness and weed out the lapses pointed out by the SC while turning down reservation in 2021. The Maratha community is backward, with around 37 percent of its members below the poverty line. The Maharashtra State Commission for Backward Classes (MSCBC) has been asked to submit its report in one month, after which it will be presented in the court,” Shinde said, while replying to questions in the debate that went on for 17 hours over three days.

The CM said the Marathas fulfilled the reservation parameters of being “far-flung, distant and away from the mainstream”. “Community members work as dabba walas, farm labourers, and mathadi and domestic workers,” he said. “They are marginal landholders and in many cases live in the remotest areas. Many Maratha families lost their lives in landslides like the one at Taliye, proving that they live in far-flung areas. The community is socially and educationally backward and in exceptional and extraordinary conditions. This will be established in the court.”

A government official said that if the SC once again turned down the contention of Maratha ‘backwardness’ or no opportunity was given to the government to prove this during the hearing of the curative petition, a fresh bill was expected to be introduced during the special session in February. “It will be on the lines of the one passed by it in November 2018,” he said. “Since the old bill has been quashed, the state government has the power to enact a new law. The CM has clarified it in his reply.”

Jarange-Patil has been demanding that all Marathas be given Kunbi certificates, since this Maratha sub-caste already enjoys reservation under the OBC quota. OBC leaders and outfits, on their part, have strongly opposed any such move that could reduce their quota. The state assembly witnessed a marathon discussion on the issue, following which Shinde spelled out the government’s stand.

The CM is believed to have assured the OBCs that their existing quota would not be disturbed. He also turned down Jarange-Patil’s demand for blanket reservation to all Marathas in the OBC category. “The idea that one document related to ‘Kunbi’ record will help in issuing lakhs of certificates has no substance,” he said. “Kunbi certificates will be issued to the blood relations of the person in whose name the record is found and also to applicants fulfilling the condition of producing documents prior to October 1967.”

Shinde also appealed to Marathas and OBCs to withdraw their protests in the interest of the state. Jarange-Patil, however, remained unimpressed. “The February deadline is unacceptable,” he said. “If the government does not address all our concerns and declare reservation for all Marathas in the next two days, we have no option but to resume our protest after December 24.”

The Maratha activist also declared that the community had not sought a report from the MSCBC. “This report to prove our backwardness is unlikely to be cleared by the court because it will violate the 50 percent cap mandated by the Supreme Court,” he pointed out. “We want the government to clear its stand by December 23. We are not going to back off from our stand.”

Read here: Maratha quota stir: Bhujbal pulls up own govt for going soft on Manoj Jarange's 'threats'

The CM was also slammed by opposition parties for not resolving the reservation issue by the deadline. While Vijay Wadettiwar, leader of the opposition, said that Shinde had just repeated himself, NCP MLA Jayant Patil said that the announcement of the special session was nothing but an attempt to buy time till February. “By that time the election code of conduct (for the Lok Sabha elections) will be imposed,” he pointed out. “The government will not be in a position to take any policy decision.”

(Inputs from Faisal Malik)