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Maratha quota in Maharashtra: OBCs, parents of medical aspirants look to courts
OBC groups also plan to hold ‘awareness’ campaigns across state against governments decision
As the Maharashtra government issued a notification to provide 16% reservation to the Maratha community in jobs and education, there is unrest among sections of the Other Backward Class (OBC) community. Some outfits from the community, which makes up nearly 50% of the population (including 346 communities of the nomadic tribes), are planning to challenge the new law in court. Apart from that, the community outfits are also planning to carry out “awareness” drives against the government in all the 36 districts ahead of the 2019 polls. A few parents have also made preparations to challenge the same in court saying the new quota would reduce chances of their children to get admissions to higher education courses.
According to leaders from the community, they fear the government’s reservation for the Maratha community will not pass judicial scrutiny despite the claims of the state government. The Supreme Court has stipulated that the quota in the state should not exceed the existing 52%. With the 16% reservation for the Maratha community as Socially and Educationally Backward Class (SEBC), the total reservation in Maharashtra would go up to 68%.
Chandrakant Bavkar, president of OBC Sangharsh Samanvay Samiti, said they have chalked out a three-pronged attack on the government over the issue. He said, “We will move court against the decision, then we will go on the streets to protest, and thirdly, we will show our disappointment in the two elections in 2019.” According to Bavkar, the Marathas do not need reservation to remove educational backwardness. He said the community is on average still better off than the OBCs with various policies and schemes of the government to support the Marathas.
“They get interest-free loans up to Rs10 lakh. There is an economic corporation with funds of ₹200 crore. The poor don’t need reservation, they need economic policies. This is a move to keep their prominence and dominance alive in the political sphere. With 27% reservation for OBCs as per the Panchayat Raj, we get elected to local bodies and they do not get this chance. With this law, they want to get back at us,” Bavkar said. He added that concessions can be granted to economically backward classes as per Article 46 of the Constitution without reservations.
Professor Shravan Deore, national convenor of the OBC Caste Census Conference, said legal action is “not a priority” for them as much as “awareness” campaigns against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government are. “The reservation for Marathas is a political decision and not a constitutional one or to help a community. Therefore, we will give them our reply politically. We do not have time for legal action now as elections are around the corner. OBCs constitute 50% of the population in the state. We have started an awareness campaign of how openly the government is stripping us of our rights. We will tell people in all 36 districts about this decision so that they know who to vote for in the next election,” said Deore, who held the first such sabha in Jalgaon on Sunday.
Deore said there is a “sword hanging over the (OBC) community”. “OBC organisations are apprehensive that if the court strikes down 16% quota given to the Marathas under the SEBC category, then they may be given reservation from the 19% quota available to OBCs,” he said.
Sachin Rajurkar, general secretary, Rashtriya OBC Mahasangh, challenged the data available with the State Backward Class Commission. “We would like a caste-based census and based on those figures, reservations should be given. The data that is available is not acquired scientifically,” he said.
Meanwhile, parents of medical and dental aspirants aiming for seats in sought-after state government medical colleges have decided to move court over the implementation of the Maratha quota. They have alleged that once this quota is introduced, medical aspirants will be left to fight for 15-18% of the total seats available in the open category.
Calling this a violation of the right to education of children from the open category, parents of medical aspirants have decided to fight the state government’s decision in court. “We have already sought legal advice and have informed the law firm to take this matter to the high court. Specialised courses like medical and engineering are sought after not just in the state but all over the country and to introduce new quotas means fewer chances for a student in the open category to get the same seat, which is unfair,” said Sudha Shenoy, a parent.
At present, 50% of undergraduate medical seats in government-run institutes are kept aside for students from the reserved categories (SC/ST/OBC/VJNT). From the remaining 50%, meant for the open category, 14% seats go to People with Disability (PwD), defence and other quotas. “There’s also a special quota (depending on eligible candidates) for students from the reserved categories who are eligible for an open quota seat based on their scores, which can range from 3-5%. Add another 16% Maratha quota and this will leave students in the open category with 15-18% seats only,” said Ruiee Kapoor, another parent.
This means, from the total 3,050 seats available in government MBBS institutes, students from the open category can access less than 275 seats. Over two lakh students apply for medical seats from Maharashtra alone, every year.
Meanwhile, Shiv Sena leader and state’s transport minister Diwakar Raote on Saturday announced that one family member from the family of Maratha activists who lost their lives during the agitations for quota would be employed in the state-owned Maharashta State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC).
