Maratha Kranti Morcha | Now, ball is in the Commission's court

After the show of strength by the Maratha community to press for reservations, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, on Wednesday, promised the Maratha Kranti Morcha delegation to urge the Commission, appointed to look into the matter to send its recommendations at the earliest.

Now, it is upto the Maharashtra Commission for Backward Classes's (MCBC), headed by retired justice Sambhajirao Mhase, to make recommendations on the quota. Only after its report can the government take a decision that can pass the legal test.

Leaders of the Maratha community, however, were not happy. They claim the exercise is time consuming and wanted the government to set a time table on the implementation of reservation.

Maratha leader Vinod Patil, who filed a petition in the Bombay High Court seeking quota, said, "Nobody knows how much time the Commission will take. The government should have released a time table indicating the time it will need to implement the quota.'' He demanded that till the government implements the quota, it should waive fees for students from the community, from kindergarten to post graduation.

Congress legislator Bhai Jagtap said the patience of the community was running thin. He insisted that the government will have to swing into action and appeal to the MCBC to make its recommendation within a specific time frame.
Shivsangram Party Chief Vinayak Mete hoped that with the government's intervention, the MCBC is expected to submit its report at the earliest. However, he did not guess any hazard.

Leaders cited past experience when the MCBC, headed by Justice RM Bapat, submitted its report in July 2008 rejecting the classification of Marathas as Other Backward Class (OBC) on grounds of social justice — by four votes to two.

Later, the Cabinet sub-committee referred the matter to a commission headed by retired judge BP Saraf to re-examine the question of Maratha reservation for jobs and education.

The Congress-NCP government in 2013 appointed a committee headed by former Chief Minister Narayan Rane, who after touring the state, submitted its report recommending 16 per cent quota for Marathas in jobs and education, and 5 per cent for Muslims. An ordinance issued in July 2014 in this regard was later struck down by the Bombay HC.