Will Marathas find a place in OBC quota? Backward class commission begins hearing

The demand by Marathas for inclusion in the OBC category is facing resistance from the latter community

Mumbai: In a significant development, the Maharashtra State Commission for Backward Class (MSCBC) has begun hearing a petition seeking that Marathas be included in the other backward class (OBC), while Maratha groups have approached the state government seeking a share in reservations for the backward category. In May 2021, the Supreme Court (SC) quashed the 12% reservation in education and 13% in jobs for Marathas.

The OBCs, who compete with Marathas for the control of local power structures, feel that including the Marathas will deprive them of quota benefits, including political reservations. (AFP)

The demand by Marathas for inclusion in the OBC category is facing resistance from groups in the latter category, which cuts across caste and religious lines to comprise around 53% of the population. The OBCs, who compete with Marathas for the control of local power structures, feel that including the Marathas will deprive them of quota benefits, including political reservations.

The MSCBC has received fresh applications from Maratha groups like Shivsangram seeking that the community be classified as OBCs and included in quota benefits. Notably, three backward class commissions chaired by Justices (retired) S.N Khatri (1995), R.M. Bapat (2008) and B.P. Saraf had rejected the demand to include the Marathas in the OBC category, while that under M.G. Gaikwad (2018) had accepted it. The Kakasaheb Kalelkar Commission (1955), B.P Mandal Commission (1980), and National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) (2000) also struck down this claim.

A member of the MSCBC, which conducted a hearing on the matter in Mumbai on 19 July, said, “This was a preliminary hearing… the petitioners sought that the Marathas must be included in the OBC category.” The next hearing is expected in August.

Vinayak Mete, former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator who heads Shivasangram, said he was seeking a survey to be commissioned to determine the backwardness of the Marathas. “For any community to be categorised as backwards, the issue needs to be referred to the MSCBC and a survey must be undertaken,” the leader said, adding that he would also meet chief minister Eknath Shinde for this empirical survey.

With the Kunbis (peasants or tillers), who are recognised as OBCs, the Marathas (Kshatriyas or warriors) are estimated to make up over 30% of Maharashtra’s population. The Marathas and Kunbis (tillers), who form significant numbers in Konkan and Vidarbha, may not be endogamous.

However, there is no scientific measurement of caste numbers, with the last caste-based census having taken place in 1931 in British India. The decennial census collects data only for scheduled castes (SC) and scheduled tribes (ST).

Balasaheb Sarate Patil, one of the petitioners in the Maratha reservation case, said they would demand that the government classify them as OBCs. “The Gaikwad commission report submitted in the court has established the backwardness of the Marathas, though it was misinterpreted in the SC. The apex court turned down the reservation by saying that the community was not living in exceptional and extraordinary situations and it is true, but we are inadequately represented, a fact established and accepted by the Bombay high court and the government,” Patil said, adding that the state government has the “right to take a call at its level as per the provisions of Article 16(4) of the Constitution and include the community in OBC”.

Sarate Patil said Marathas were collectively approaching the state government with the demand. “The (J K) Banthia commission has reported the OBC population in the state to be 37% against which they have been getting a 27% quota. In a report released by the state government in 2017, the OBC representation in government jobs accounted for 44% against their population of 37%. We are demanding parity in the quota. The SC quashed our reservation as it was crossing the 50% cap, but it has not stopped the government from our inclusion in OBCs,” he said.

Virendra Pawar of Maratha Kranti Morcha said they had met Shinde and sought a quota for the Marathas from the OBC reservation. “The OBCs deserve an 18.5% quota if their population is 37% as noted in the Banthia commission report. This means the excessive 8.5% can be given to us. We have been demanding steps to give us reservations in the OBC category,” he said.

Opposing their inclusion, Chandrakant Bavkar, president, OBC Sangharsh Samanvay Samiti, said, “Marathas cannot demand their inclusion in the OBCs as the SC in its verdict last year has clarified that they are not socially and educationally backwards.”

“The first and foremost condition for the inclusion as OBCs is backwardness. The SC has turned down the claim referring to the Gaikwad commission report. We do not deny that a part of the Maratha community is poor, but that does not qualify them for the quota in OBCs. We will oppose their demand tooth and nail.”

Maratha outfits have threatened to revive their agitation to push for reservation and to begin state-wide protests from next week.

“OBCs were given political reservation by taking steps on a war footing, but nothing has been done for us. We want the reservation to be restored at the earliest or we will not allow the elections to be held. The OBC population has been reduced to 37% as per the Banthia commission report, which means we can be accommodated in OBC reservations within the quota,” said Abasaheb Patil of Maratha Kranti Thok Morcha.

According to Maratha Kranti Morcha’s Virendra Pawar, various outfits across the state are planning to begin protesting from the first week of August. “Shashikant Pawar-led Akhil Bhartiya Maratha Mahasangh is doing ‘Atmaklesh Andolan (repentance march) from August 9 in Mumbai. A group from the Jalna district in Marathwada is sitting on a fast for reservation in their district on August 7 and 8. We have been in talks with the state government for the steps to revive the reservation by pushing it legally. We have been demanding for the steps to give us a reservation in OBC category and also extend the schemes announced for us,” Pawar added.