‘Collection of fresh data on Marathas is a futile exercise’

STRAP: Legal experts and Maratha scholars say the government’s move is political and unlikely to serve any real purpose

MUMBAI: Chief minister Eknath Shinde, in his bid to give Marathas reservation in education and jobs, announced that fresh empirical data would be collected through the Maharashtra State Backward Classes Commission (MSBCC) to prove the backwardness of the community. Legal experts and Maratha scholars, however, say it is a futile exercise and is unlikely to serve any purpose.

The empirical data is expected to be collected from every district by investigating the social, economic and educational status of communities. The Tata Institute of Social Sciences, the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics and the Indian Institute of Population Studies will be roped in to conduct the investigation, which will be more or less the same kind of exercise that was conducted by the previous MSBCC under retired judge M G Gaikwad.

The Gaikwad Committee had surveyed over 45,000 Marathas families from at least two villages in each of the 355 tehsils in the state. The committee report, which was accepted as grounds for the backwardness of the Marathas in the Bombay high court, was struck down by the Supreme Court in May 2021. The SC stated that there were no “extraordinary circumstances” or “exceptional situation” that is required to breach the 50 percent reservation cap, and added that Marathas were a “dominant forward class in the mainstream of national life”.

Balasaheb Sarate-Patil, one of the petitioners for Maratha reservation maintained that the collection of fresh empirical data was a futile exercise. “First of all, the reservation was struck down by the SC because it exceeded the cap of 50 percent, and the Gaikwad commission report did not prove Marathas to be extraordinarily and exceptionally backward,” he said. Will fresh data be able to prove the backwardness? How can Marathas, who are in the mainstream of society, be backward? Even if they are proven to be so, will the court allow a quota that is over 50 percent? It’s just a waste of time and public money.”

Sarate-Patil added that with the introduction of the economically weaker section (EWS) quota and the fresh exercise of giving Kunbi certificates to lakhs of Marathas, eligible Marathas were getting their slice of the reservation pie anyway.

Sachin Rajurkar, general secretary of the Rashtriya OBC Mahasangh, questioned how fresh empirical data was going to prove the backwardness of the community a mere two years after the SC ruling. “The Mandal Commission has ascertained 11 parameters of backwardness on educational, social and economic fronts,” he said. “These include a community whose labour population is over 25 percent of the state average; a community that is fully dependent on labour for a livelihood; a community of which 25 percent of children are not in school; a community whose members fetch water from at least half a kilometre away; and so on. The Marathas hardly fulfil these conditions.”

According to one of the counsels appointed by the government, the fresh data is neither necessary nor will it help in restoring the quota. “Ninety percent of Marathas in Vidarbha have been categorised as Kunbis, while all those who demand such certificates are given them in western and North Maharashtra and Konkan,” he said. “Thus, a majority of Marathas across the state, barring Central Maharashtra, are already included in the OBC category.”

The counsel said that furthermore, since the Justice Shinde committee had paved the way for the inclusion of eligible Marathas in central Maharashtra in the OBC category, there was no need for any fresh attempt. “But the government and political parties are unwilling to say it openly for obvious reasons,” he said. “A curative petition and the collection of fresh empirical data will only help the government in buying time and pacifying the agitated community.”

Advocate Shrihari Pingale, who represented the state government in the Bombay high court and Supreme Court, said the government first needed to utilise the data collected by the Gaikwad Commission through proper adjudication instead of going in for fresh empirical data. Sarjerao Nimase, an expert member of the Gaikwad Commission, said the report had not been properly represented in the SC during the hearing. “The government could establish the backwardness of the community through fresh empirical data,” he opined.

Balaji Killarikar, an MSBCC member, said that the commission had put forth a proposal for a caste-based survey but it was turned down. “Had it been accepted by the government, there would have been readymade figures for every community,” he said. “Almost all the communities, including Brahmins, have made a representation to us on their backwardness. The empirical data on every community could come in handy in such demands.”

Anand Nirgude, head of MSBCC, said the commission was waiting for the government mandate, after which a call would be taken on the various aspects, including the time and machinery the data collection would require. “We will also speak to social scientists on other aspects like whether it should be a study of all communities or whether a survey on the Maratha community will suffice,” he said.