 "Maratha Morcha")
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led coalition government in Maharashtra has found itself in a difficult spot after biggest ever protest marches by the Maratha community in recent weeks.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is struggling to come to grips with the situation. The Shiv Sena, an ally of the BJP in the state, has painted itself into a corner after party mouthpiece Saamna published a cartoon mocking the Maratha "silent rallies". More than 15 rallies have so far been taken out. The last of this series of rallies will be taken out in Mumbai in October end. Organisers are trying to ensure that the rally is well attended.
The opposition, Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), has found a spring in their stride. The two parties have a good representation of Maratha leaders. In private conversations, leaders of these two parties shared how they think these protest marches may be a game changer in the politics of the state.
The Congress and NCP are mounting pressure on the state government to immediately take a decision on providing reservations to the Maratha community, but without disturbing the current quotas in jobs and educational institutions for other communities. Not all outfits representing Maratha interests believe in non-violent protests. The Sambhaji Brigade has warned that the community's patience will soon run out if the demands are not met.
The protests started after the rape and murder of a Maratha girl in Kopardi village of Ahmednagar district. That was the immediate provocation for a community that is on an edge because of the agrarian crisis. Marathas are a landholding caste but fragmentation of land and diminishing returns in agriculture have meant the community is losing its dominant status in rural areas. In contrast, the landless Dalits have invested in education and used quotas effectively to ensure their upward mobility.
It was, therefore, easy to organise these farmers in large numbers to attend these marches. The Maratha Kranti Morcha has publicly maintained the marches were not aimed at any particular party or the government, but there is an undeniable undertone against the Fadnavis government and its inaction.
The Maratha groups want the culprits involved in the Kopardi incident to be punished, the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act to be amended to curb its misuse, implementation of a 16-per cent quota to the Maratha community in jobs and immediate relief to farmers to tide over the agrarian crisis.
Fadnavis, in an effort to reach out to the community, assured it the government was trying its best to extend reservations in jobs. At the same time, he noted the powerful Maratha elite had enjoyed the fruits of power over the years, but neglected the demands of the economically-backward within the community - a reference to the Maratha leaders of the Congress and NCP, who ruled Maharashtra for nearly a decade-and-a-half before the 2014 Assembly polls.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar has countered Fadnavis' claims. He said the state government mishandled the drought and agrarian crisis. He argued the government should not merely talk but take action on providing quotas to the Maratha community, without impacting the reservation enjoyed by other communities. Pawar also said the protest marches were not aimed at destabilising the Fadnavis government.
The Shiv Sena, which has refrained from joining the issue, found itself embarrassed over the cartoon controversy. Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has said the party supports reservation for economically backward members of the Maratha community, but wants the issue to be debated in the state legislature. On amending the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, the Sena has called for convening a special session of Parliament.
The Republican Party of India, one of whose factions is led by Union minister Ramdas Athavale, was unanimous in declaring that it was opposed to any attempt to repeal the Act but was open to amending it. Athavale also said economically backward members from all castes, including Brahmin, should be given job quotas.
Multiple options being explored
Fadnavis has offered to field leading lawyers to argue the government's case favouring reservation for the Maratha community. However, the community members believe this will be a drawn-out legal battle and, therefore, wants the government to take immediate administrative steps to provide much-needed relief, especially ahead of elections to civic bodies, slated to take place between November this year and March next year.
The government may increase the annual income threshold to Rs 6 lakh from Rs 1 lakh for giving scholarships to students from the economically backward classes. In government and private engineering and medical colleges, it may offer a 50 per cent reduction in fees to boys and 75 per cent to girls. The government may go in for the construction of student hostels for Maratha community students on the lines of Dr Ambedkar Bhavans across the state where students can use the facility free.
To give succour to farmers, the government is mulling writing off loans of small landholders in irrigated areas and also of farmers with land up to 10 acres in non-irrigated areas. The government could also reschedule loans and waive the interest for farmers with bigger landholding from both irrigated and non-irrigated regions. The government can immediately change the present criteria for providing farm equipment by panchayat samitis and zilla parishads. The government could also submit a detailed representation to the Centre to provide the current status of the misuse of the contentious SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, with a suggestion that all such cases filed to settle political scores be reviewed or dropped. Those who have filed such cases could have also their social reservation be cancelled for 10 years.
Another amendment could be to punish witnesses, who tweak their submission or turn hostile. The government may also suggest inclusion of a bail provision in the Act.
Additionally, the government may initiate steps under the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution as in Tamil Nadu. This apart, the government could ask the Centre to create a special section under the Third Schedule of the Constitution, providing OBC (Other Backward Classes) status to the Maratha community. This will be done without touching the OBC quota.
