The committee headed by Maharashtra industries minister Narayan Rane on Saturday held a hearing on the issue of reservations for the Maratha community.
A section of the Maratha community is demanding reservations, but the demand has been opposed by some OBC leaders as they fear that it would be included into the existing OBC quota. Mr Rane and social justice minister Shivajirao Moghe were present at the hearing along with other officials. Four other ministers, who are members of the state-appointed committee, were not present.
Mr Rane later told reporters that 116 memorandums were received from delegations of various groups. “Of these, 48 delegations favoured job and educational reservations for Marathas unconditionally. Other 40 delegations made it clear that they were not against inclusion of Marathas in OBC category, as long as the claims of the existing beneficiaries of over 19 per cent OBC quota were not disturbed. They did not want to share the OBC pie with Marathas,” Mr Rane said.
One delegation demanded quota for Muslims, while two expressed opposition to reservations for Marathas, saying that it has been the ruling caste of the state since historic times.
Similar hearings would be conducted in other revenue divisions of the state too, before the committee prepares its report.