The Maharashtra government has cancelled the five per cent reservation for members of the Muslim community in government jobs and educational institutions.
A government resolution (GR) to this effect was issued on Tuesday, following the lapse of the previous ordinance granting the quota, which also faced an interim court stay, news agency PTI reported.
The earlier Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) government had issued an ordinance providing a 16 per cent quota to Marathas and five per cent to Muslims.
According to the new GR, all previous decisions and the ordinance concerning the five per cent reservation for the socially and educationally backward Muslim group under the Special Backward Category (A) have been revoked, PTI reported. This includes government and semi-government jobs, as well as seats in educational institutions.
The GR also cancelled earlier notifications from 2014 and directed that caste and non-creamy layer certificates for Muslims in the Special Backward Category will no longer be issued.
Opposition slams move, calls BJP-led govt ‘anti-minority’
The opposition, criticising the government’s decision, on Wednesday called the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Maharashtra regime “anti-minority”.
Former state Congress Working Committee member Naseem Khan alleged that the ruling Mahayuti coalition had committed an injustice by scrapping the quota, while NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) Spokesperson Clyde Crasto said the move shows that the BJP does not value Muslim leaders of the party or its allies, PTI reported.
Speaking to reporters at Tilak Bhavan, Khan said the decision to remove the quota for socially and educationally backward sections within the Muslim community was “extremely wrong” and would deprive minorities of opportunities to join the mainstream of development.
He added that the previous Congress-NCP government had issued the ordinance in 2014 granting the Muslim quota. “The subsequent Devendra Fadnavis government did not take the process forward, and even after the Bombay High Court granted interim relief for the five per cent educational reservation, its implementation was not ensured,” Khan alleged.
Crasto said, “The decision proves that the BJP doesn’t value Muslim leaders of the party and its allies. It also shows that these Muslim leaders won’t get justice from the BJP.”
As noted, the earlier Congress-NCP ordinance had provided a 16 per cent quota to Marathas and five per cent to Muslims. The new GR issued on Tuesday cancels all previous decisions and related ordinances regarding the five per cent reservation for the socially and educationally backward Muslim group in government, semi-government jobs, and educational institutions.
(With PTI inputs)