‘Reservation is not a solution’: Devendra Fadnavis on quota in jobs

Devendra Fadnavis has said that even if reservation is given to every community, the government can‘t provide jobs to all.

Little over a month after Maharashtra Assembly passed a bill providing for separate quota for the Marathas in jobs and education, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said that reservation is not a solution to tackle unemployment.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis during the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit at Taj Palace in New Delhi in October last year. (Photo by Virendra Singh Gosain/ Hindustan Times) (Virendra Singh Gosain/HT PHOTO)

“If reservation is given to every community, even then government jobs can’t be given to 90 per cent of the young generation. Government can give only 25,000 jobs per year. Reservation is not a solution,” news agency ANI quoted Fadnavis as saying at a function in Maharashtra on Friday.

Maharashtra Assembly cleared a bill in November last year for 16 per cent quota for the Maratha community in jobs and education in the state. The Marathas had been earlier declared a backward community following their long-standing demand.

Recently, demands for and against reservation in jobs and education have been seen in different parts of the country with some advocating a review of the quota policy in states and at the central level.

After RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat called for a review of reservation policy in 2015, some of the Opposition parties posed questions to the NDA government asking it to clarify its position on existing quota arrangements.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has, however, said on a few occasions that the government has no plans to review the quota arrangement. In an August 2018 interview, Modi said, “Reservation is here to stay. Let there be no doubt.”