Scrap 50 per cent quota limit, conduct caste census: Sharad Pawar to Centre

NCP president Sharad Pawar. File pic/Suresh Karkera

Caste and quota are expected to rule politics in the coming months, with the NCP boss Sharad Pawar on Monday declaring that his party will create public pressure against the Centre's constitutional amendment. He also asked the central government to conduct a caste census and share empirical data with states. Parliament on Wednesday passed the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Seventh Amendment) Bill, 2021 to restore the powers of the states to make their own OBC lists.

"It is misunderstood that the Centre has restored the states' right to grant reservations. The provision made through the amendment is of no use when the 50 per cent cap exists," he said, adding that the bill was not even discussed seriously in the Monsoon session. Pawar said the amendment amounted to cheating the Other Backward Classes (OBCs). "It's like inviting people to a treat and then tying their hands before they start eating."

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He said the Centre must scrap the 50 per cent cap on reservations so that states can ensure justice to people who have been demanding quota in education and jobs. "The NCP has discussed the issue and decided to create public opinion on it," he said. He gave indications that the party would consolidate its position over the scrapping of the Maratha reservation by shifting the blame of delay in restoring it to the BJP-led Centre. Pawar's declaration carries significance as local body polls are to be held across the state in 2021.

The issue

The constitutional amendment became important for Maharashtra after the Supreme Court, while hearing the Maratha reservation case early this year, ruled that the states can't give quotas because the power lies only with the Centre. All parties unanimously supported the bill in Parliament. But many, including NCP, Shiv Sena and Congress, told the Centre that additional quotas cannot be granted because of the 50 per cent cap that the SC had imposed in 1993.

In Maharashtra, there are two ways of granting reservation to Marathas (and others) -- either by giving it separately or including them in the existing one for the OBCs. The state attempted a separate quota but the SC scrapped it. The second option is too tricky because the existing OBCs do not want to share their quota with additional communities. All governments have promised that the OBC quota will not be compromised. So, exceeding the 50 per cent limit is seen as the only viable option left, because some states have taken their social reservations beyond the cap and have got legal immunity as well.

Maharashtra's three-party Maha Vikas Aghadi government has so far unsuccessfully explored the ways to restore the Maratha reservation, and mostly ended up in a scuffle with the Centre over the "obstacles". The BJP, which had given the quota when in power with Shiv Sena and before the SC scrapped it, says the restoration of reservation is still possible at the state level.