93% families earn only ₹1 lakh a year: MSCBC report

MUMBAI : Ninety-three per cent of Maratha families earn only ₹1 lakh a year. The average annual income of more than 72% families from the community was as low as ₹50,000 last year, which means 37.28% families are below the poverty line (BPL). These are some of the findings of the Maharashtra State Commission for Backward Class (MSCBC), based on which a bill was passed in the Maharashtra legislature on Thursday to provide 16% reservation to the community. The commission had appointed a panel of experts, social scientists, statisticians and sociologists from the government and universities to analyse and interpret the data and information received through a sample survey.

The findings were then merged with other contemporary surveys undertaken by government departments and agencies, along with historical data and case studies.

The commission, in its report, also expressed concern over the rising number of suicides in the community, most of them owing to debt and crop failure. The report said that of the 13,368 suicides committed in the past six years (2013-18), 2,152 farmers (23.56%) were from the Maratha community.

According to the action taken report (ATR) tabled in the state legislature on Thursday, more than 76% of the families are engaged in agricultural activities or work as farm labourers for livelihood, while 71% families are either landless or marginal farmers (land ownership of less than 2.5 acres).

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said the findings of the report prove the backwardness of the community. “In 2014, when the Bombay high court struck down the reservation, there was no such data and recommendations of the MSCBC to support the move,” Fadnavis said.

On educational status of the community, the commission has found only 4.30% people of the total population have pursued higher education. While 6.71% people are undergraduate or post-graduate, 0.77% are technically and professionally qualified. Also, 13.42% people from community were found to be illiterate, 35.31% with primary education and 43.79% passed either SSC or HSC. The MSCBC said only 0.27% Marathas have got government jobs through direct recruitment in the state. Their representation in Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is 6.92%, Indian Police Service (IPS) 15.92% and Indian Forest Service (IFS) 7.87%.

Six per cent of Marathas are in government and semi-government services and most of these positions are occupied in Class D category, the report stated.