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28 Mar 2024, Edition - 3180, Thursday

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Education

Will increase reservation in jobs and edu above 52%, promises Devendra Fadnavis

indiatoday.in

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The Maharashtra government will table the ‘Action Taken Report’ or ATR in the state assembly on the State Backward Class Commission’s recommendations for Maratha quota, before introducing a bill to make a provision for the reservation, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said on November 28, as per PTI.

The government is committed to providing quota to the Maratha community in jobs and education, he asserted while speaking in the Assembly.

“My government is committed to providing reservation to the Maratha community under the Socially and Educationally Backward Community (SEBC) category over and above the existing 52 per cent reservation in the state,” Fadnavis said.

Recommendations by TISS

Fadnavis said the report of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) on reservation to the Dhangar (Shepherd) reservation was being studied.

“We will also table the ATR of this report. The reservations of the Scheduled Tribes or STs will be protected. The recommendations of the TISS report will be sent to the centre and reservation would be given without hurting the existing quota for STs,” he said.

Issue of Muslim quota

Criticising the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party or NCP over the issue of quota for Muslims, Fadnavis accused them of trying to mislead the minority community.

“52 backward castes among Muslims were given reservation by the previous Shiv Sena-BJP state government (in 90s). To give reservation, the castes need to be declared as backward first. Those demanding quota should first approach the State Backward Class Commission, and the commission’s report will be binding on the government,” he said.

“Our government is providing educational benefits to the backward communities among Muslims. For Congress and NCP, Muslims are just a vote bank and they never cared for their well-being,” he charged.

Opposition demanding quota reports to be tabled

The opposition members squatted in the well of the house and shouted slogans in support of their demand that reports recommending quotas for Maratha and Dhangars be tabled in the legislature and five per cent reservation in education to Muslims be restored.

“Fadnavis has asked people to rejoice on December 1. We need to know the recommendations and what is mentioned in the report. Why is the government’s stand ambiguous? This is an insult to the Maratha community,” leader of opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil said.

Senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan accused Fadnavis of interpreting the rules of the State Backward Class Commission as per his own convenience in connection with the report on Maratha reservation.

Background

The Maratha community, which constitutes over 30 per cent of the state’s population, has been demanding quota for a long time and its agitation for the same in July and August this year had taken a violent turn.

Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil, who heads the Cabinet sub-committee on the Maratha quota issue, had told reporters on November 27 that the government will introduce a bill on Thursday to provide reservation to Marathas under the Socially and Educationally Backward Class (SEBC) category before the end of the legislature’s winter session.

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