‘Inclusion among OBCs may shrink Marathas’ share in reservations’

Mumbai: Several independent experts, community leaders and government functionaries have cautioned that the inclusion of Marathas among Other Backward Classes (OBC) so as to enhance their share in reservations – as being demanded by Maratha outfits and activists like Manoj Jarange-Patil – might in fact hurt the community. The reservation share that Marathas currently have access to within the 10% quota for Economically Backward Sections (EWS) may reduce drastically, they cautioned.

According to data shared by the Shinde government last month, among 31,000 students studying in various institutions under the EWS quota, 78% were Marathas, whereas in government jobs, 85% of the posts were taken by Marathas.

Higher and technical education minister Chandrakant Patil, who heads the cabinet sub-committee for Maratha reservation, said that Marathas benefitted the most from the EWS quota in jobs and education. Other members of the sub-committee as well as some ministers in the government echoed Patil and claimed Marathas would not get more than 4% share in reservations if they were included among OBCs.

“Currently, more than 380 castes fight it out amongst themselves to access the 19% reservation for OBCs. If Marathas are included among OBCs, they will not get more than 4% of the share due to competition. Moreover, once included in OBCs, they will be ineligible for EWS quota, which is given to open category castes on the basis of economic backwardness,” said a key minister requesting anonymity. He added that the demand put forth by Jarange-Patil was an emotive one and did not take the ground situation into account.

Maratha leader Pravin Gaikwad, who had earlier been batting for inclusion of Marathas among OBCs, said they should insist on EWS quota instead.

“Marathas are going through an economic crisis because of the agrarian crisis and expensive education. After the EWS quota came into force in 2019, they got opportunities for reservation to ride over these crises,” said Gaikwad said while speaking to reporters in Pune.

He further noted that in the last 60 years, Marathas were not recognised as backward by two central commissions – Kalekar and Mandal, as well as two state-level commissions – Bapat and Khatri. “Their claim of backwardness was repeatedly struck down by these commissions and it will be difficult to prove the same now. Thus, the EWS quota is the best option available to them,” said Gaikwad.

On the other hand, Vinod Patil, one of the petitioners for Maratha reservation said that eligibility criterion for EWS quota was too stringent, and most Marathas would not qualify for it.

“Criteria like land-holding must be less than 5 acres and house size must be less than 1800 square feet are hurdles for our inclusion in the EWS category as most Marathas live in joint families and share household and agriculture land. Secondly, OBCs get a larger age relaxation for government jobs. So, we are insisting on our inclusion within OBCs,” he said.

But Chandrakant Bavkar, working president of the OBC Janmorcha, claimed that Marathas’ demand for inclusion among OBCs was squarely political.

“Marathas claim to comprise 32% of the population in Maharashtra, but this is only when Kunbis and sub-castes of Kunbis are considered. The actual population of Marathas is around 11%, according to gazetteers and various other reports. If Manoj Jarange-Patil has the interest of poor Marathas in mind, as he has been claiming, he should insist on EWS quota,” said Bavkar.

He further said that OBC organisations feared that if Marathas were included among OBCs, they would corner most of the reserved posts owing to their dominance in politics.