A WEDNESDAY OF DECISION-MAKING

The state will table the draft of the bill to amend the Maharashtra Reservation Act 2004 to give reservation to the Maratha community before the cabinet on Wednesday and bring in the bill in the Assembly on Thursday. It is likely to table the action taken report on Wednesday. The government, howver, is sceptical of the reaction of the Other Backward Classes (OBC), if their quota gets compromised due to the move Organisations representing OBCS met chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday and expressed discontent over creation of a separate category, Socially and Educationally Backward Classes, to give reservation to Marathas. “If the reservation for Marathas is struck down by court, they will eat into our existing quota. We have opposed the government move during our meeting with the CM,” said Shravan Deore, one of the OBC leaders who attended the meeting The state on Tuesday rejected the demand for reservation to the Muslim community, stating any reservation on religious grounds can't pass the legal scrutiny

Amid tiff between the treasury and Opposition over reservation to Marathas, revenue minister Chandrakant Patil called on Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on Tuesday. Patil, who heads the cabinet sub-committee on Maratha reservation, briefed him over the government’s plan for reservation. Meanwhile, the Opposition slammed the state for its “failure” to tackle drought. BJP leader and ex-revenue minister Eknath Khadse, too, echoed the Opposition’s views.