Mumbai: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar Friday said there is no legal hurdle in implementing 5% reservation for Muslims in Maharashtra.
Ajit Pawar said this at a meeting of the Minority Welfare Department. Abdus Sattar, Minister of Minority Department, and Hasan Mushrif, Minister of Health, were also present in the meeting attended by top officials and some members of the Muslim community.
The erstwhile Congress-NCP government had, first in 2014 and later in 2020, provided five per cent reservation to Muslims in admissions to educational institutions when it introduced a quota in jobs and education for the Maratha community.
The Maratha reservation was then challenged in the court but there was no such issue with giving reservation to Muslims.
Despite this the subsequent BJP-Shiv Sena government dropped the Muslim quota and brought in a legislation to provide reservation to the Marathas only that could not be implemented because of the legal hurdles.
Speaking at the Minority Department’s meeting Friday Ajit Pawar once again made this point clear and said a decision in this regard will be taken after discussion with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
“I will discuss the issue with Shinde and Fadnavis before taking a decision,” he said.
In the meeting, discussion was also held to increase the share capital of Maulana Azad Financial Corporation and the guarantee to be given by the government.
Ajit Pawar, who also holds Ministry of Finance, assured that recommendations of a committee headed by the Chief Secretary to bring uniformity in the schemes implemented through institutions like Babasaheb Ambedkar Research and Training Institute (BARTI), Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj Research and Training Institute (SARTHI) and Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Research and Training Institute (MAHAJYOTI) will be applicable to the Maulana Azad Economic Development Corporation too.
“Maulana Azad Corporation, set up for the welfare of the Muslim community, will also get more funds, and it should check if its loan schemes can be linked to the PM Vishwakarma scheme recently announced by the Union government”, Ajit Pawar said.
Apart from this, the meeting also discussed about giving a special package for the backward class Muslim minorities.
The issue of giving reservation to Muslims came at a time when the state is already facing turmoil over Maratha reservation. The government under pressure from the Maratha community has decided to grant them Kunbi status which is akin to OBC. But the OBCs are opposing the government’s decision.
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