Maratha quota: Govt likely to table draft on Thursday

Though the Devendra Fadnavis led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government is in a dilemma over implementation of Maratha quota, the General Administration Department controlled by the Chief Minister is preparing the draft bill in consultation with the Law and Judiciary department. There are two different opinions among officials of L & J department regarding draft bill and the ordinance, the government may table the draft bill on Thursday in the Assembly for the passage.

Reacting to the submission of report by the State Backward Class Commission to the government on November 15, CM Fadnavis had said, December 1 would be the day of celebration, the days of rejoice have come and the days of protests were over.

The senior official from L & J were disagreeing with the CM. “CM’s reaction about rejoicing was too early. He had to consult with the officials of the Law department before making any statement hurriedly. There are issues in making draft bill, these need to be consulted with stakeholders,” said the official who did not want to be named.

“The sub-committee was constituted on Thursday evening. After Thursday, three consecutive days were holidays from Friday to Sunday. How can the subcommittee get time to speak with stakeholders and will give expert comment upon the commission report?” the official questioned.

A seven-member sub-committee, led by revenue minister Chandrakant Patil, was announced on Thursday. The other members of the committee are Vinod Tawde, minister for school education, Eknath Shinde, minister for Public Works Department (Pubic undertaking), Subhash Deshmukh, minister for cooperative and marketing, Ram Shinde, minister for Other Backward Class welfare, Chandrashekhar Bawankule, minister for energy and Vishnu Savra, minister for Tribal Development.

The Parliamentary Advisory Committee (PAC) has finalised the business of the session till November 30. The official worried that it will be difficult for the subcommittee to submit the report before the end of the session. “In such a situation, the government may bring in an ordinance through the Governor and will implement the quota to the Maratha community,” he said.

Disagree with this, an official from GAD, said that they are ready to go ahead with it.

“We are working on a warfooting as instructed by the Chief Minister. The draft bill is almost ready. The government can table the bill in the Assembly on Thursday and if passed, it will be moved to the Upper House on Friday for the passage,” he said.

However, he refused to disclose the provisions and the percent of quota stated in the draft bill.