In a major move, the Devendra Fadnavis government in Maharashtra on Tuesday (17th February) officially removed the 5% reservation available to Muslims in state government jobs and education. The state government issued a government resolution announcing the decision.
The reservation for Muslims was announced by the earlier Congress-NCP government in 2014 through an ordinance before the state assembly elections. The ordinance created a new Special Backwards Class-A (SBC-A) category and placed around 50 Muslim communities under it. The reservation applied to admissions in government-run schools and colleges, and recruitment in government and semi-government services. Notably, the ordinance also granted 21% reservation to the Maratha community in the state.
However, the ordinance could not be converted into a law as the Congress-NCP alliance lost to the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance in the state and the ordinance lapsed. It had a December 23, 2014, deadline to be converted into a law after being passed in the state assembly. However, it was challenged before the Bombay High Court, which put a stay on it on November 14, 2014.
Consequently, the current Government Resolution (GR) was issued by the Social Justice Department, scrapping all earlier decisions, circulars and administrative orders related to the quota, citing court rulings and the prevailing legal position.
