Report by Drishti Baheti
Maharashtra has seen public and political protests for Maratha quota. What is the Maratha quota and why is it a contentious issue? We try and explain
What are Reservations?
A system of action that reserves seats in government jobs, educational institutions, and legislature for certain castes and tribes of the population. Reservations are also known as positive discrimination.
Suppose there are 100 seats in a school. Without reservation, these seats would go to any student that the school wants. But, the government makes a law that 6 of them should go to specially-abled students, 20 to a specific set of castes (let’s call them Scheduled Castes – because they have been put in a Schedule or list), another 20 to a people belonging to certain tribes (Scheduled Tribes), and another 10 to other backward classes (OBCs) that have been identified from time to time. Another 5 should go to religious minorities. Minorities also get reservation under ST and OBC quota.
Now, the school can only choose students for 100-6-20-20-10-5 = 39 students out of 100. This is called reservation – some seats are reserved for some specific castes/tribes/religious groups/ special ability / economically weaker sections.
Who are the Marathas?
The Marathas are a group of castes in India that include peasants, landowners, and warriors. They are known for their history as yeoman warriors. The Marathas make up around 30 per cent of the total population of Maharashtra. They mainly depend on agriculture for their survival.
What is the issue about?
The Maratha issue is about the reservation in education and government jobs which was to be given to the Marathas.
When and how did this issue start?
This issue has its roots sown since the early 1980s when Mathadi Kanghar Labor Union leader Anna Saheb Patel said that the Marathas should get reservations in the education and jobs sector. But nothing happened and the Maratha Reservation issue went to the back burner.
This topic was again picked up in the early years of the last decade. Ahead of the 2014 elections, the then Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) under Prithvi Raj Chauhan passed an ordinance that they would give 16% reservation to the Marathas. However, the government changed and Bharat Janta Party (BJP) – Shiv Sena came to power. The ordinance was challenged in the Bombay High Court but it did not stand. The issue once again went to the back burner.
The tipping point of the issue was in 2016. Marathas from corners of the state came together under the Maratha Kranthi Morcha and started their demand for reservations. There were 58 silent protests out of which one took place in the financial capital of India, Mumbai. All of these protests were peaceful.
But the next year, 2017 the protests started to become violent. There was a pressing need for the state government in the power of Bharat Janta Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena to look into the matter.
In 2018, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis passed a bill stating the Marathas will be given 16% reservation in both the sectors of education and jobs. This was again challenged in the Bombay High Court. Although the Bombay High Court upheld the demand, they struck down the reservation to 12% in education and 13% in jobs.
In 2019, the government changed and Shiv Sena came to power. The reservations were challenged in the Supreme Court as Maharashtra already had a 52% reservation and 10% EWS reservation (Economically Weaker Sections). With another 12% and 13% they would cross the ceiling of 50% on total reservation established in the Indra Sawhney law in 1992. The Supreme Court cut off the whole reservation. Since then, the Marathas have been trying to get back the reservations.
What is Happening Now?
On 29th August 2023, a Local Maratha Leader, Manoj Jarange Patil, who has been holding the reservation issue for a decade decided to go on a hunger strike until the government gave them the reservation.
On September 1st when Manoj Jarange Patil was doing a peaceful protest in his village, Antarwali Sarathi, police forcibly tried to take Manoj to the hospital as his health was deteriorating due to the hunger strike and while this the police started a lathi charge. This made the Marathas furious and raised the protest for reservations again.
Manoj’s fast lasted for 17 days until the Chief Minister himself came and assured that he would definitely get a solution to this.
But Manoj demanded for Kunbi Certificates to be given to the Marathas so they could take the benefits of the OBC category (Other Backwards Class) if the reservation was not given to them. The OBC category which forms 52% of Maharashtra’s population is already against any changes in their reservation.
The Chief Minister made a committee under Justice Shinde to prove that the Marathas belong to the OBC category and should be given the privilege of the OBC reservations. The committee was given 40 days to find a solution to the problem.
The committee was not able to find a solution in the given time period which made Manoj go on his second hunger strike starting from 25th October, 2023. After this started, the villagers did not let any politicians enter their villages and protested day and night for the reservations. They are also doing candlelight marches.
On 30th October 2023, the state government decided to form an advisory board of 3 retired judges who would persuade the protesting Marathas that the government is serious about giving them the reservations and wants suggestions from them to present their case in the Supreme Court.
The committee formed under Justice Shinde got a 2-month extension as it needed more time. The committee says that it has gone through almost one crore documents and 11,000 certificates are already validated.
On 30th October, the Chief Minister said that they are looking into both – the Validation of the Kunbi certificates and the overall reservation issue. They also said that even after the extension of 2 months, the committee is trying to expedite the process.
The state government does not want to discriminate between the OBC category and the Marathas. Being in favour of the Marathas and giving them the Kunbi Certificates will cause changes in the OBC category and will affect the elections as the OBC category forms the majority of the voters of the BJP. The BJP is currently in power in Maharasthra. Due to this, the state will be divided along caste lines.
Yesterday, November 2nd, Manoj Patil has ended his hunger strike and has given the government two months to resolve the issue.