Maharashtra CM: Maratha quota won't affect OBC reservation

Uddhav Thackeray

The Maratha quota in jobs and education will not affect reservations for Other Backward Classes, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray assured on Tuesday. A meeting will be organised between representatives of OBCs and the state's advocate general to dispel doubts, he said. The chief minister was speaking during a video conference with representatives of the OBCs which was also attended by ministers Ashok Chavan, Chhagan Bhujbal, Eknath Shinde, Vijay Wadettiwar, Dhananjay Munde and others.

"The Maratha quota case is being heard in the Supreme Court. The OBCs should shed fear that their reservation will get affected if the apex court upholds the Bombay High Court's verdict on Maratha quota," Thackeray was quoted as saying in a press release. The Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) Act, 2018, was enacted to grant reservation to the Maratha community in Maharashtra in jobs and admissions.

The Bombay High Court, while upholding the law in June last year, held that 16 per cent reservation (as provided by the government) was not justifiable and said that the quota should not exceed 12 per cent in employment and 13 per cent in admissions. The law was later challenged before the Supreme Court.

The chief minister assured that the government would not ignore OBCs'' problems. "We will give justice to the community," he said.

Bhujbal, a key OBC leader in state politics, said OBCs were not against reservations to any other community.

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