Give Rs 3,000-crore package to Maratha community: Maharashtra BJP

BJP party symbol. File Pic

The BJP on Friday demanded that the Maharashtra government announce a Rs 3,000 crore package to provide educational facilities and scholarships to the Maratha community on the lines of the assistance given to those from the OBC category.

Speaking to reporters in Kolhapur, some 375 kilometres from here, the party's Maharashtra unit chief Chandrakant Patil said the previous government under Devendra Fadnavis had proposed a formula to treat the Maratha community at par with the Other Backward Classes when it came to educational facilities and self-employment.

"As part of the Rs 3,000 crore package, Rs 1,000 crore must be given to Annasaheb Patil Economic Backward Development Corporation to generate employment. A sum of Rs 500 crore must be given to SARTHI (Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj Research Training and Human Development Institute), while Rs 600 crore must be utilised to pay fees of Maratha students," he said.

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Patil said the Uddhav Thackeray government must file a review petition in the Supreme Court in connection with the apex court's order on the 102nd Amendment of the Constitution.

The Supreme Court, on May 5, held that the 102^nd Constitution amendment took away the power of state governments to declare Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) for grant of quota in jobs and admissions.

The SC had also struck down reservations provided to the Maratha community under the Maharashtra SEBC Act.

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