16 pc quota for Marathas in state administration recruitment, says Fadnavis
Maharashtra government will keep 16 per cent of seats vacant while filling around 72,000 posts in the state administration, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced in the state legislature on Thursday.
Fadnavis assured that the state government was positive on granting reservation to the ‘Dhargar’ (Dhangar) community, while appealing to leaders of both communities to refrain from protests at Pandharpur ahead of the festival of Ashadhi Ekadashi on Sunday.
While Maratha youths have resorted to protests at Parli in Beed district for the past few days, they had threatened protests at Pandharpur. When the issue was raised by Vinayak Mete, Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) (Bharatiya Janata Party) and Leader of the Opposition in the Upper House Dhananjay Munde, Fadnavis said the government is positive over the issue.
“The government has already granted reservation to Maratha community, which has been challenged in the court. Hence, the government shall keep 16 per cent seats vacant and fill the backlog after the court gives its final verdict,” Fadnavis said in the Lower House, replying to queries by Leader of Opposition Radhakrishna VikhePatil and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar.
The government is sparing no efforts to make the case for Maratha reservation stand legal scrutiny, Fadnavis said and also assured that the government would decide on the issue of Dhangar reservation once it receives a report from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) over the issue.
Of the 72,000 vacant posts the government is planning to fill 36,000 vacancies this year, while the remaining half will be filled next year, Fadnavis told the state legislature. Advertisements in this regard are likely to be published by the end of this month and examinations would be conducted all across the state on a single day, expediting the recruitment process, he said. He also apprised the House about the various concessions special schemes for students from the Maratha community.