Giving power to states to prepare OBC list not enough; relax 50 per cent quota cap: Ashok Chavan

Ashok Chavan. File Pic

Maharashtra PWD minister Ashok Chavan on Wednesday said giving the power to states and UTs to make their own OBC lists will not pave the way for restoring the Maratha quota which was quashed by the Supreme Court but the Centre should lift the 50% ceiling on reservations.

Chavan was reacting to reports that the Union Cabinet has cleared a Constitution amendment bill that seeks to give power to states and UTs to make their own OBC lists. The bill will now be introduced in Parliament for passage, sources had said in Delhi. The Supreme Court has dismissed the Centre's plea seeking review of the May 5 majority verdict which held that the 102nd constitution amendment took away the states' powers to declare socially and educationally backward classes (SEBC) for grant of quota in jobs and admissions.

The Maharashtra government had granted reservation to the Marathas in jobs and education under the SEBC category. On May 5, a five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan had unanimously set aside the quota for Marathas and had refused to refer the 1992 Mandal verdict putting a cap of 50 per cent on reservations to a larger bench. "While rejecting the SEBC quota, the apex court had observed that states lack the power to declare SEBC after the 102nd amendment and that the Maratha quota cannot exceed the 50 per cent ceiling (on reservations)," Chavan, who heads a Maharashtra cabinet sub-committee on the Maratha quota, told reporters.

The 102nd Constitution Amendment Act of 2018 inserted Articles 338B, which deals with the structure, duties and powers of the National Commission for Backward Classes, while 342A deals with powers of the President to notify a particular caste as SEBC and power of Parliament to change the list. "The need of the hour is to remove both the roadblocks. The Centre should relax the 50 per cent limit on quotas. A delegation led by Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray had requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a meeting in Delhi on June 8. Several states have expressed their willingness to relax the 50 per cent cap but the Central government hasn't taken up the initiative,'' he said.

Opposition parties had accused the Centre of assaulting the federal structure by taking away the power of the states to identify and list the other backward classes (OBCs). Chavan asked whether the Central government is not keen to ensure that the SEBC law, which was passed when the BJP was in power in Maharashtra, is restored. "Maratha quota is not a political issue. The impasse can be resolved through a consensus and a coordination between the state and the Central governments," the Congress leader said.

Chavan demanded that the BJP persuade its leadership to relax the 50 per cent quota limit in the ongoing Parliament session and help the efforts of the MVA government. "The issue of relaxing the 50 per cent ceiling is not restricted to Maharashtra only. This is a national issue. The reservation limit has exceeded 50 per cent in various states and there could be problems in various states due to the apex court's order," he added.

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