Maratha reservation: Meeting of Maharashtra Cabinet sub-committee today | Explainer

A crucial meeting on the Maratha reservation is to be held on Monday by the Maharashtra Cabinet sub-committee. Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shine will attend the meeting at noon today.

On Friday, a clash broke out between police and protesters demanding reservation for the Marathas in Jalna. Police resorted to lathi charges to disperse the protesters. The next day, that Saturday, CM Shinde said that the state government was committed to providing reservations to the Maratha community.

"In November 2014, when the coalition government was in power under the leadership of then CM Devendra Fadnavis, the government announced the Maratha reservation. The High Court also upheld the Maratha Reservation decision taken by the government. But the Supreme Court took a different decision. Everyone knows that this is due to someone's negligence...The issue of the Maratha Reservation is currently in the court. The state government is fully prepared to fight this case in court...There are some difficulties, and the state government is trying to resolve them," Shinde said.

In 2018, Maharashtra Assembly passed a bill for 16% reservation to Marathas. However, the Supreme Court said that the Maratha quota law was unconstitutional. The court held that separate reservations for the Maratha community violated Article 14 (right to equality) 21 (due process of delay).

In the year 1997, Maratha Sangh and Maratha Seva Sangh organised the first major Maratha agitation for reservation in government jobs and educational institutions. The protestors said that that the Marathas were not upper caste but essentially Kunbis (members of the agrarian community).

After a prolonged struggle, the Maharashtra legislature passed a bill proposing a 16% reservation in education and government jobs for the Maratha community. The bill declared Maratha as a socially and educationally backward class by the government.

On 27 June 2019, the High Court upheld the constitutional validity of reservation for the Maratha but asked the government to reduce it from 16% to 12 to 13%, as recommended by the State Backward Classes Commission.

However, on 5 May 2021, the Supreme Court held the Maratha reservation unconstitutional and struck down the law.