Maratha quota: If required, will hold special session of legislature to grant reservation, says CM Shinde

CM Eknath Shinde. File Pic

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday told the state assembly that if required, the government will hold a special session of legislature to grant reservation to Maratha community, the PTI reported.

According to the news agency, a special session of the state legislature will be held, if required, to grant quota to the Maratha community after reviewing a report of the state Backward Class Commission, CM Shinde said on Tuesday.

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"The Justice Shinde Committee set up for Maratha quota has submitted a report to the state government. The report of the Maharashtra Commission for Backward Classes will be submitted in one month. After reviewing it, if required, we will organise a special session of the legislature to offer reservation to the Maratha community," CM Eknath Shinde said, as per the PTI.

He was speaking during a discussion on the Maratha reservation issue and steps taken by the government so far.

"The state government will prove that the Maratha community is socially and educationally backward," he said.

The opposition, however, expressed disappointment over Shinde's reply and walked out of the House in protest.

Meanwhile, Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange on Sunday said that if the state government fails to fulfil the reservation demands, the community will chart its next course of action at a meeting in Beed on December 23, reported the PTI.

Speaking to the reporters during a meeting at Antarwali Sarati village of Jalna district of Maharahstra, Manoj Jarange said that Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde is scheduled to make a statement in the assembly, whose winter session is underway in Nagpur, on December 18, as per the PTI.

Manoj Jarange claimed that state minister Uday Samant phoned him in the morning to assure that the chief minister and the deputy CMs were committed to granting reservation, according to the PTI.

The government had sought "one month to pass the act", but if it fails to comply, he said the next strategy will be decided on December 23 at Beed.

Manoj Jarange announced that the agitation would continue if the government failed to fullfil the demand for reservation and urged it to issue Kunbi certificates to Marathas for their inclusion in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category and pass the act accordingly.

The state government has found 54 lakh records of Kunbi, and it should pass a legislation for the inclusion of the Maratha community in the OBC category, he said.

The activist concluded his hunger strike on November 2 and gave the ruling dispensation time till December 24 to fulfil the demands made by the community seeking reservation in education and government jobs.

(with PTI inputs)