Team Blitz India
MUMBAI: The Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission submitted a report on February 16 on the social and educational backwardness of the Maratha community for which it had undertaken a survey of around 2.5 crore homes within a span of only nine days.
The report has not been made public but it confirms the social and educational backwardness of Marathas. Now the onus is on the state Government to find a way to extend reservation to the community.
Maharashtra’s main opposition Congress has demanded that the report be made public immediately.
The state Government is positive on this issue of giving reservation to Marathas without harming the reservation of other backward classes (OBCs). In 2018, a commission headed by Justice (Retired) MG Gaikwad too had submitted a report on the backwardness of the Maratha community.
Based on that report, the Maharashtra Government had extended reservation to Marathas, which, however, did not pass the muster in the Supreme Court. The government is now working again on the quota demand.
Meanwhile, the reservation, which will be extended based on the commission’s report, will not be applicable to those who have already acquired Kunbi (OBC) certificates. A senior OBC minister in the Maharashtra has said he was not opposed to providing independent reservation to Marathas. Only demand is that Marathas be given the reservation without harming OBC reservation.
Following the agitation, the Maharashtra government had appointed a committee headed by Justice (Retired) Sandeep Shinde to define the process to extend Kunbi certificates to Marathas in the Marathwada region. The scope was further extended across the state. The government has also issued the notification of draft amendment of rules for giving caste certificates by including the word sage-soyare (extended family), which has been opposed by OBC organisations.
The commission was tasked to prepare the report to ascertain the social and educational backwardness of Marathas. Terms of reference were sent to the commission on November 13, 2023.
