Cabinet sub-committee on Maratha reservation a timepass: Shiv Sena

The Shiv Sena on Saturday dubbed a cabinet sub-committee formed by the Maharashtra government to look into the issue of Maratha reservation as a “timepass” and sought to know why justice has not been meted out to the community despite several road shows in the state.

On August 9, lakhs of members of the Maratha community, staged their 58th and final ‘muk morcha’ (silent protest) in Mumbai demanding qouta in jobs and educational institutions.

The same day, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis announced in the state assembly that the government would extend to the community the educational concessions that are currently given to the OBCs.

He had also said the government would form a cabinet subcommittee, which would review the implementation of various schemes for the community and accordingly, the five- member sub-committee was announced.

In an editorial in party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, it said, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe held a big roadshow in Ahmedabad. Such roadshows have their own benefits.”

“However, several roadshows, morchas and protests held by the Maratha community yielded no results,” it claimed.

The party said Fadnavis agreed to spend ₹30,000 crore from the state’s coffers to realise Modi’s dream of a bullet train but allegedly adopted the Congress’ policy of forming a cabinet subcommittee for Maratha reservation to kill time.