A decision on recommending quota for the Maratha community will be taken after receipt of the Rane Committee report, which is likely to be submitted by January 9, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said today.
"Once the government gets the report, we will go through it thoroughly and then take a judicious decision," Chavan told the state Legislative Council.
After this, opposition members stood up in protest and demanded a fixed date by when the Maharashtra government would grant reservations to the Maratha community.
Chavan, however, said the decision was not so easy as the issue was quite complicated.
"We do not want to be caught on the wrong foot, since the government's decision might be challenged in a court of law. Hence, we need to take into account logical reasoning while deciding on reservations for the Maratha community so that it could withstand judicial scrutiny," Chavan said.
A one-man committee headed by Maharashtra Industries Minister Narayan Rane was set up last year, after Council Chairman Shivajirao Deshmukh directed the Maharashtra government to consider talking to a cross section of the people about reservations for Marathas.
The question about the community's current status was earlier raised by Vinayakrao Mete (NCP).
As members from both the ruling and opposition benches cornered Maharashtra Social Justice Minister Shivajirao Deshmukh, the Chairman had asked the Chief Minister to provide these details to the House.
However, soon after the Chief Minister cleared the government's position today, opposition legislators staged a walk out denouncing the government, saying they were not satisfied with his reply.
