The Supreme Court overturned the state’s Maratha reservation in education and government positions, ruling that persons from the Maratha community could not be regarded as educationally and socially backward.
MUMBAI: Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis met with important members of the ruling coalition on Friday and announced that the government will file a curative petition in the supreme court, a day after the SC rejected its review petition for Maratha reservation. In order to support the quota, it has also been decided to establish a new committee to look into the community’s lack of development.
The commission will establish the community’s backwardness by removing the flaws identified by the Supreme Court in rejecting the reservation. To recover the quota, we will take all necessary steps. Every alternative for the quota has been covered in our discussion. Each week, the work will be reviewed by the newly established cabinet subcommittee, according to Shinde. However, according to experts, none of these actions will be able to successfully contest the SC order from last Thursday.
An effective curative petition has never been successful in the past, according to Maratha leader Virendra Pawar. There are only two options open to governments: either incorporate Marathas among other economically disadvantaged groups or urge the national government to amend the constitution to remove the 50% reservation cap.
Pawar stated that the Banthia Commission, which was constituted to collect empirical data, assessed the OBC population to be 36%, allowing Marathas to be included in that category. “Currently, OBCs receive 27% reservation, which is disproportionate to their population.” “Their reservation should be 18 to 19% (50% of the population), with the remainder going to Marathas,” he remarked.
Another Maratha leader and petitioner in the Maratha reservation issue in the Bombay High Court, Balasaheb Sarate, stated, “The state government is not ready to incorporate us in the OBC category for obvious reasons. In accordance with the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) Act of 2018, Marathas received a 12 and 13% quota in education and government posts, respectively. On May 5, 2021, the SC overturned the state’s Maratha reservation in education and government employment, ruling that Maratha community members could not be labelled as socially and educationally backward.