Question mark on Maharashtra’s Maratha quota after Centre’s decision on 10% reservation for poor among upper castes

Legal experts and government staff are unsure if Marathas will get 16% reservation in the state, with the newly announced 10% Central quota in jobs and education; or whether their quota will be crunched to keep the total reservation within the 60% cap.

The Centre’s decision on Monday to give 10% reservation to the economically backward upper castes has put a question mark on the Maharashtra government’s plan to give 16% reservation to Marathas.

File photo of celebrations after the Maharashtra Assembly unanimously passed a bill proposing 16 per cent reservation for Maratha community. (HT Photo)

Terming it socially and educationally backward, the state government had cleared the quota for the community in November, which would bring the total reservation in the state to 68%. However, legal experts and government staff are unsure if Marathas will get 16% reservation in the state, with the newly announced 10% Central quota in jobs and education; or whether their quota will be crunched to keep the total reservation within the 60% cap.

The state officials are waiting for the details of the 10% reservation. “Marathas are in the open category outside Maharashtra. It is not clear if the community will be eligible for 10% reservation in the central quota, along with 103 other castes in the open category. If so, it could enjoy 16% reservation in the state on the basis of its social and economic backwardness ascertained by the government and 10% outside the state. The total percentage of reservation rising to 78% should not be a problem, as the reservation in case of Marathas is parallel,” said an official from the law and judiciary department.

However, a former member of the Maharashtra State Commission for Backward Classes said the state may have to stick to existing 52% and additional allocation of 10%.

“The state could either accommodate Marathas within the 10% or put them in the category of OBCs that enjoy 27% reservation. The implementation will largely depend on the ruling of the HC, which is hearing petitions challenging and supporting the reservation. There will be more clarity on the new reservation, once the bill is introduced in Parliament,” he said.

While some pleas have questioned the criterion on which the quota was sanctioned, Maratha community has demanded revision of castes in OBC quota, claiming it is disproportionate to their population.

Balasaheb Sarate Patil, a petitioner supporting Maratha reservation, said, “If a constitutional amendment is made to cap the reservation to 60%, the state will have to accommodate us within the framework. Then Marathas will be accommodated as OBCs.”

A section of legal experts believes the Centre’s decision was in accordance with demands of various state governments, including Maharashtra.

“A constitutional amendment could nullify the cap of 50% reservation as per the Indra Sawhney case verdict. This will help various communities, including Marathas, Gujjars and Patels across states,” said lawyer Shriram Pingale, who represented Maharashtra government in the Maratha case.

Ram Shinde, BJP minister and member of cabinet sub-committee for Maratha reservation, said, “The Centre’s decision will give an additional reservation of 10% to Marathas, besides the 16% reservation in SEBC given by the state. The 10% reservation would not hamper the reservation given by the state government. There won’t be any upper limit on the reservation.”