Maharashtra govt will introduce Maratha quota bill on 29 November, says minister Chandrakant Patil

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government will introduce a bill on Thursday to provide reservations to the Maratha community in jobs and educational institutes under the Socially and Educationally Backward Class category, Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil said Monday. He said meetings were being held by a cabinet sub-committee to ensure the law to provide reservations to Marathas is within the legal and constitutional framework. Patil heads the sub-committee set up to take a decision on the recommendations of the State Backward Class Commission on Maratha reservation. [caption id=“attachment_4126359” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Maharashtra revenue minister Chandrakant Patil. Twitter@ChDadaPatil[/caption] The state government received the SBCC’s report on 15 November and it was placed before the cabinet on 18 November , which approved it and formed a sub-committee to proceed further. Its members are PWD Minister Eknath Shinde, Cooperation Minister Subhash Deshmukh, Water Conservation Minister Ram Shinde, Energy Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule, Tribal Affairs Minister Vishnu Savara and Secretary of the state’s General Administration Department. Patil said even after the quota law is passed, other facilities provided to the Maratha community for employment and educational purposes for the last two years would remain. On whether the quota would be 16 percent, as announced in 2014 by the previous Congress-NCP government, Patil said a figure was being worked out. The Maratha quota issue has dominated the discussion in the state’s Legislative Assembly and Council since the Winter Session began on 19 November. The community has been demanding quota for a long time and its agitation for the same in July and August had taken a violent turn.