Maratha reservation remained at the centre of Maharashtra’s political and administrative debate on September 8 after Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the state would examine all available options within the Constitution and subject to court decisions, but would not reduce the entitlements of other communities.
Fadnavis said the government’s position was to ensure justice for all communities. He said the state would provide whatever provisions were constitutionally permissible for the Maratha community, while rejecting any approach that would take benefits from one group and give them to another.
The chief minister was responding to the continuing demands raised by Maratha activist Manoj Jarange-Patil, including the demand for recognition of Maratha-Kunbi records for reservation purposes. Fadnavis said discussions with representatives of the Maratha community were continuing and that the government had not closed the door to dialogue.
According to the report, Fadnavis said decisions and concessions taken for the Maratha community were not limited to announcements on paper and that implementation was under way. He added that the government had acted on several issues raised by community representatives. Any remaining doubts or gaps, he said, could be brought before the government for discussion and clarification.
The chief minister’s remarks indicated that the government would not make the Maratha community a beneficiary of the existing Other Backward Classes reservation quota. He also said the state’s approach was not to affect the reservation available to other communities.
Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Maharashtra’s water resources minister and chair of the state government’s Maratha reservation subcommittee, separately said the government would not send another delegation to meet Jarange-Patil. He called on the activist to withdraw the agitation in view of the decisions already taken by the state.
Vikhe Patil said the implementation of government decisions was being reviewed continuously. If shortcomings remained, he said, efforts were under way to address them. He added that the government was willing to consider other pending issues concerning the Maratha community, but maintained that the state had already taken a positive step on the matters under discussion.
The minister said that if Jarange-Patil continued to maintain his position, that would be his decision, but reiterated that the government would not send a delegation for another meeting. His statement marks a harder position on direct negotiations even as the government says discussions with community representatives remain open.
The report also said that Justice Shinde was in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and that his committee had accelerated action concerning Maratha-Kunbi records. Notices had been issued by the committee and related proceedings were under way, according to Vikhe Patil.
The state government’s next steps will include continued review of decisions already taken, action on any identified implementation gaps and further proceedings concerning Maratha-Kunbi records. The reservation issue remains subject to constitutional provisions and court decisions.
