Eknath Shinde, the chief minister, on Sunday, asserted that his administration was committed to giving the Maratha community reservations in government jobs and the educational system.
Additionally, Shinde stated that he and the state's two deputy chief ministers were working well together and that there was no misunderstanding between them.
"My government is committed to giving reservation to the Maratha community in the state. We will not sit quiet until the community gets its due reservation," Shinde said.
"Till the Maratha community gets reservation, the government schemes that are already in place will continue and deserving people from the Maratha community will benefit from it," he added.
Where was Bandh declared?
Recently, the Maratha Kranti Morcha issued bandh announcements in numerous areas. The most recent was in Aurangabad, but earlier bandhs were called to protest against police brutality in the districts of Jalna, Nandurbar, Beed, Osmanabad, Hingoli, Parbhani, and Latur. Agitations were also organised in Thane, Solapur, Nagpur, and Yavatmal in addition to these districts. Along with several people, many of the policemen were also badly injured in the protests.
What did Sharad Pawar Say?
In light of the renewed demand for the Maratha reservation here, NCP Chief Sharad Pawar demanded on Tuesday that the quota be raised from its current level of 50% to between 15% and 16% to include more communities.
While addressing a news conference, Pawar said, "Some people say that making more people (communities) beneficiaries of the OBC (other backward class) quota is an injustice to the poor people of the (existing) OBC quota. This cannot be ignored."
"The option is to make amendments by the Centre in Parliament to the existing 50 per cent cap and add 15-16 per cent to it," Pawar said in response to a question on demands being made by some leaders to accommodate Marathas in the existing OBC quota," he added.
This occurred amid state-wide Maratha protests calling for reservations in government jobs and educational institutions.
Background in brief:
The Maratha community received quotas in jobs and higher education from the Devendra Fadnavis-led Maharashtra government in 2018. However, the Maharashtra government's quota decision was overturned by the Supreme Court in May 2021.
In May 2021, a Supreme Court panel of five judges ruled that the Maratha community was not socially or educationally backward. In April 2023, it also rejected a review petition declaring the quota statute was unconstitutional.
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