Maratha quota: OBCs, parents of med aspirants to approach court

As the Maharashtra government issued a notification to provide 16% reservation to the Maratha community in jobs and education, there is unrest among sections of the Other Backward Class (OBC) community.

Some outfits from the community, which makes up nearly 50% of the population (including 346 communities of the nomadic tribes), are planning to challenge the new allocation in court. A few parents have also made preparations to move the court, saying the new quota would reduce chances of their children getting admissions to higher education courses. Leaders from the Maratha community fear the government’s reservation for Marathas will not pass judicial scrutiny despite the claims of the state government. The Supreme Court has stipulated that the quota in the state should not exceed the existing 52%

Chandrakant Bavkar, president of OBC Sangharsh Samanvay Samiti, said the Marathas do not need reservation to remove educational backwardness. He said the community is on average still better off than the OBCs with various policies of the government to support the Marathas.

“They get interest-free loans up to ₹10 lakh. There is an economic corporation with funds of ₹200 crore. The poor don’t need reservation, they need economic policies. This is a move to keep their prominence and dominance alive in the political sphere,” Bavkar said. He added that concessions can be granted to economically backward classes as per Article 46 of the Constitution without reservations. Professor Shravan Deore, national convener of the OBC Caste Census Conference, said legal action is “not a priority” as much as “awareness” campaigns against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ledgovernmentare. “The reservation for Marathas is a political decision and not a constitutional one or to help a community. Therefore, we will give them our reply politically...OBCs constitute 50% of the population in the state. We have started an awareness campaign of how openly the government is stripping us of our rights. We will tell people in all 36 districts about this decision so that they know who to vote for in the next election,” said Deore, who held the first such sabha in Jalgaon on Sunday. Sachin Rajurkar, general secretary, Rashtriya OBC Mahasangh, challenged the data available with the State Backward Class Commission. “We’d like a castebased census and based on those figures, reservations should be given. The data available is not acquired scientifically.”

Meanwhile, parents of medical and dental aspirants aiming for seats in state government medical colleges said they will move the court. “Specialised courses like medical and engineering are sought after not just in the state but all over the country and to introduce new quotas means fewer chances for a student in the open category to get the seat,” said Sudha Shenoy, a parent.

At present, 50% of undergraduate medical seats in governmentrun institutes are kept aside for those from the reserved categories (SC/ST/OBC/VJNT). From the remaining 50%, meant for the open category, 14% go to Persons with Disability, defence and other quotas.

“There’s also a special quota for students from the reserved categories who are eligible for an open quota seat based on their scores, which can range from 3-5%. Add another 16% and students in the open category will have 15-18% seats only,” said Ruiee Kapoor, another parent.

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