Why Maratha Reservation Bill may not douse quota fire

Facing the head of Maratha quota agitation spearheaded by Manoj Jarange Patil, the Maharashtra government on Tuesday tabled the Maratha Reservation Bill in the state assembly which unanimously passed it. The bill grants 10% reservation to the Maratha community in both education and government jobs above the 50% cap.

A day-long special session of the state legislature was called for the purpose after the Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission submitted a report on its survey on the social, economic, and educational backwardness of the Maratha community. The massive exercise covered nearly 2.5 crore families.

One of the key findings in the bill tabled by CM Shinde underscores that the population of the Maratha community in the state is 28%. Out of the total Maratha families that are below poverty line, 21.22% hold the yellow ration cards. It is higher than the state's average of 17.4%.

With passing of law of 10% Maratha reservation under socially and educationally backward category in jobs and education, the total reservation in Maharashtra will go up to 62%.

In the state, following the 2001 State Reservation Act, the total reservation was 52 per cent. This included quotas for Scheduled Caster (13%), Scheduled Tribes (7%), Other Backward Classes (19%), Special Backward Class (2%), Vimukta Jati (3%), Nomadic Tribe B (2.5%), Nomadic Tribe C-Dhangar (3.5%) and Nomadic Tribe D-Vanjari (2%).

Quota activist unmoved

Aware of the fact that the quota may not hold in the court of law, Patil, who has kicked off an indefinite hunger strike at his village in Jalna district, said it doesn’t matter if the Maharashtra government grants 10% or 20% reservation to the community, the quota must be under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category and not separate.

“This decision of the government has been taken by keeping election and votes in mind. This is a betrayal to the Maratha community...Maratha community won't trust you. We will benefit only from our original demands. Make a law on ‘sage-soyare’...This reservation won't hold. The government will now lie that the reservation has been given,” Patil was quoted as saying by ANI.

He argued that the proposed reservation did not fully address the community’s demands. He stated, “We deserve reservation that is in line with our needs. Provide us reservation under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category for those who can prove their Kunbi identity, and for those who cannot provide proof, pass a law for ‘Sage Soyare’ (relatives from the family tree).” Patil called for a meeting of the Maratha community on Wednesday to discuss their concerns.

Patil and his supporters have long been demanding that the blood relations of those who can prove their Kunbi identity should also be allowed to have Kunbi registration. Kunbi is a caste in Maharashtra that falls under the OBC category. The Maratha quota activist has been insisting that all members of the Maratha community should be considered Kunbi and given reservations accordingly, under the OBC quota.

Later, he resented the government move when it decided to only grant benefits to those with Nizam era documents of Kunbi certificates. “The quota extended by the government will only benefit a few, leaving the rest of our community deprived of reservation. Therefore, I’m demanding the implementation of ‘Sage Soyare’. We will continue to fight for what we deserve,” he said.

Past attempts

Passed by the Maharashtra assembly on Tuesday, the Maratha Reservation Bill for the 10% Maratha quota is similar to the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes Act, 2018, introduced by the then Devendra Fadnavis government. This is the third time in the last almost a decade when state government has introduced legislation for the Maratha quota. In 2021, the Supreme Court struck down reservations for the Maratha community, citing no valid ground to exceed the 50% reservation limit.

Prior to it, the then Congress government under Prithviraj Chavan implemented a 16 per cent reservation for Marathas just before the elections in 2014. The Bombay High Court struck it down, saying that the Supreme Court had already made it clear that reservation cannot exceed 50% of the total seats.

The quota demand witnessed its revival in 2016-17 close on the heels of a sensational gangrape and murder of a 15-year-old Maratha girl in Ahmednagar district. Subsequently, the then Devendra Fadnavis government announced 16 per cent reservation for Marathas in 2018. This was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2021 on two grounds -- it breached the 50% quota ceiling and that there was no “extraordinary circumstance” to justify the move.

The Eknath Shinde government is now making a third push to bring reservation for Marathas. Now that the bill has been unanimously passed by the assembly, the chief minister will now table it in the Legislative Council for assent, after which it will become a law.

Balancing act

The fresh move of Maharashtra government to bring in the Maratha Reservation Bill is being seen as an attempt to extend quota to the community without disturbing reservation being provided to the OBCs who aren’t happy with the demand that Marathas be granted reservation under the OBC category.

Patil’s demand that the dominant Marathas, who are Kshatriyas or warriors, be categorised as Kunbis or tillers, which will make them eligible for OBC quota, was being consistently opposed by the OBCs, including the Kunbis, who are already part of the category.

The state government was also not willing to concede to this demand due to the legal, social and political repercussions involved in granting quota benefits to Marathas after classifying them as backwards. The government found itself in a spot amid rising protests from Marathas and a restive non-Maratha and OBC population.

Maharashtra’s OBCs, who cut across caste and religious lines, believe that the Marathas will deprive them of their share of reservations in education, jobs and politics if they become a part of their category. Notably, OBCs have quotas in elections to local self-government bodies like gram panchayats, municipal councils and municipal corporations.

The Marathas and Kunbis are said to collectively account for 31.5 per cent of the state’s population, while the OBCs are over 52 per cent. The Kunbis, who have significant numbers in the Konkan and Vidarbha regions, are already part of the OBC category. Those who can prove their Maratha-Kunbi or Kunbi-Maratha heritage are also classified as backwards.

Many outfits belonging to the Kunbi, Mali and Dhangar communities have already resorted to protests across the state against the proposal to integrate Marathas as Kunbis in the OBC quota. Allowing the Maratha community into the OBC fold would mean eating up into the already limited pool, they contended.

Pacifying Patil

The Maharashtra government had in the past made several attempts to pacify Patil on his demand for Maratha quota. The government had given a draft notification over his demands to provide Kunbi certificates to the Maratha community in January.

Subsequently, Patil had withdrawn his agitation in January, saying that the state government has “not only accepted his demands but also issued relevant orders for implementation”. Shinde had met Patil after the state government accepted his demands on extending benefits of quota to blood relatives and handed over a copy of draft notification.

The draft notification was issued following Shinde’s announcement on the issuance of Kunbi certificates to 57 lakh Marathas who have records of Kunbi antecedents. Shinde also said Kunbi certificates would be provided to blood relatives of Marathas with Kunbi antecedents, based on affidavits filed by those with Kunbi records.

However, Patil launched a hunger strike on February 10, asking the government to enact the law. He also demanded to make some changes to the draft notification to align with the demands of Maratha community. “There is a feeling of having been cheated by the state government… We and even Jarange Patil have realised that the draft notification was not on the lines of our demand,” said Sanjay Lakhe-Patil, state coordinator, Maratha Kranti Morcha.