The Maharashtra Assembly on Monday passed a bill mandating 10% reservation for Marathas in educational institutions and government jobs, even as courts struck down similar laws enacted in 2014 and 2019.
The bill cited the findings of the State Maharashtra Backward Classes Commission (SCMBC) as a reason for reservation. The committee said in its report that Marathas, who constitute 28 per cent of Maharashtra’s population, face “unusual and extraordinary” backwardness, justifying reservations to breach the 50 per cent limit.
The 10 per cent quota will be higher than the existing 62 per cent in the state and includes 10 per cent quota under the Economically Weak Sections (EWS) category.
The bill cited cases where Tamil Nadu’s 69 per cent reservation was in violation of the 50 per cent ceiling imposed by the Supreme Court’s Indra Sawhney ruling. In 1992, the Supreme Court imposed a 50% quota ceiling in the Sony case. In 2021, a five-judge bench approved the bill and struck down a 2018 Maharashtra law on reservation for Marathas in jobs and educational institutions.
A challenge to the 69% reservation under the Tamil Nadu law is still before the Supreme Court, but it has been included in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution, ensuring limited scope for judicial review.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who introduced the bill in the House and Senate, said the Supreme Court in May 2021 authorized the government to include backward classes in the reservation list. He said the committee’s report had established that the community had a right to reservation. “The reservation is for good reasons and will not affect the existing quota. This reservation will withstand legal scrutiny and be fully upheld as we have addressed the shortcomings pointed out by the Supreme Court while canceling the quota given in 2018.”
Shinde said 22 states had more than 50% quota. “Besides Tamil Nadu, Haryana has 67 per cent, Bihar has 69 per cent, West Bengal has 55 per cent and Gujarat has 59 per cent. We will ensure that it passes all legal tests,” he said.
The commission’s report said that 21.22% of Marathas live below the poverty line, which is higher than the state average of 17.4%. The survey found that 84 per cent of the Maratha community in the non-butter category should be given adequate protection in terms of employment and education, as stipulated in the Indra Sahwhney ruling.
The committee’s report said higher education among the Maratha community was lagging behind. Economic backwardness is the fundamental reason. “The Maratha class has been in abject poverty for decades as their main source of income is agriculture which is decreasing year by year. The community depends a lot on the type of work that the laborers do…Percentage of the population Statistics show that such a large segment of the population remains under-represented in terms of access to employment, services and education. Empirical and quantifiable data show that the Maratha class is completely excluded from the mainstream, not just in a purely economic sense backward, but also socially and educationally backward.”
The SCMBC submitted a report on the social status and backwardness of the Maratha community to Shinde on Friday, ahead of the quota law being passed in a special session of Parliament.