Maharashatra: Marathas, the politically influential community in Maharashtra, will now be able to get 16% reservation in government jobs and education in the state. The state legislature on Thursday cleared the quota bill within minutes of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis tabling the legislation, first in the state assembly, and later, the upper house.
The bill is called the Maharashtra State Reservation (of seats for admission in education institutions in the state and for appointments in public services and posts under the state) for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) Act, 2018.
With the move, the caste reservation quota in the state will now reach 68% from the existing 52%. It will come into force as soon as Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao clears the law. But the bill could still undergo intense legal scrutiny.
The previous Congress-Nationalist Congress Party government too had given 16% quota to the Maratha community in 2014, which was later set aside by the court.