Mumbai: The Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed a bill providing 10 percent reservation for the Maratha community in education and government jobs. The draft bill was approved at the cabinet meeting chaired by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde ahead of the special session of the Assembly.
Following the cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde tabled the Maharashtra State Socially and Educationally Backward Bill 2024 in the House during the day-long special session of the Legislature on the Maratha quota. The Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena-BJP-NCP government had called the special session of the Legislature to discuss the reservation issue.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, said, "A bill giving 10% reservation in education and jobs to the Maratha community in the state was passed in the Maharashtra Legislature today. Under the leadership of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, we are all and the grand coalition government is consistently working for all sections of the society."
"That is why today has dawned. I express my sincere thanks to all the Members of both Houses, the Leader of the Opposition, and all the group leaders for passing this Bill unanimously. Backward Classes Commission has also worked hard and completed the survey for this in time, I am also thankful to the commission. We also thank the officers and employees involved in this work. Lasting reservation for the Maratha community was the priority even earlier and the same resolve is still there today. We have also given this word from the beginning that we will not snatch any element and give it to someone else, and we have worked to wake up to that word. We also stand firmly with the OBC community in the state," added Fadnavis.
Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) chief Uddhav Thackeray welcomed the Maratha Reservation Bill and said that he would not question the Maharashtra government today as the bill pertains to education and jobs. Speaking to the reporters, Thackeray also congratulated the Maratha people who made sacrifices for the Maratha reservation.
"After studying the bill, the government tabled it, and it was passed and will stay in court too. I'm happy and we appreciate the government. I congratulate the Maratha people and many people gave their sacrifice for this Maratha reservation," Thackeray added.
NCP founder Sharad Pawar said the draft of the Maratha quota bill passed by the Maharashtra Legislature was similar to the earlier legislation which could not stand the legal scrutiny, and added that the Supreme Court will decide the fate of the fresh bill.
"The draft of the bill cleared by the state legislature today is the same as that of the one presented before the apex court. We need to see what happens to the fresh bill in the Supreme Court," Pawar, a former Maharashtra Chief Minister, said.