State panel to submit report on Maratha quota issue today

Mumbai: The Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission on Wednesday will submit its report on whether the Maratha community in Maharashtra is eligible for reservation in education and jobs, a decision that could define the politics of the state and the future of its chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.

If the report recommends that the Marathas are indeed backward and need reservation, then the state government will have to introduce a Bill for the forthcoming winter session of the Maharashtra state assembly to offer reservation to the community.

The Marathas, constituting 33% of the population in the state and a dominant upper caste community primarily involved in agriculture, are going through tough times due to agrarian crisis resulting in loss of jobs and income, prompting them to seek reservation in education and government jobs.


The Marathas have been extremely vocal in their demand and some of their protests had turned violent earlier this year, and at least eight from their community have committed suicide. What has made matters worse for the ruling BJP in the state is that almost all political parties have expressed their support to the Maratha reservation issue.

In caste conscious Maharashtra, it is construed that Fadnavis is not giving into the Maratha demands because he is a Brahmin, which is a higher caste. The Brahmins and the Marathas have been bickering as the latter accused the Brahmins of usurping their power after the Peshwas (Brahmins) began running the empire started by the Marathas.

Fadnavis has claimed that since the reservations announced earlier by the Congress-NCP government were set aside by the courts, his government needed to give a reservation that could stand the test of the courts, and hence the report of the State Backward Class Commission was necessary to implement a proper reservation policy.