Mumbai: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday criticized some of the central government's policies and also commented on the INDIA front in the country. He also clarified his stand on seat-sharing and the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in the state. Sharad Pawar said that the central government has still maintained the ban on onion export and the decision to ban onion export is fundamentally wrong. Pawar also spoke on the reservation given to the Maratha community by the state government. "I am happy if Maratha reservation is sustained," Pawar said.
The Mahayuti government led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has passed a bill to provide 10 percent reservation to the Maratha community in both houses of the state legislature. Therefore, a 10 percent reservation is being implemented for the Maratha community in education and jobs. Maratha community members celebrated this reservation. However, at the same time, some Maratha brothers have demanded reservations from OBC itself, saying that this reservation is not acceptable. Interestingly, Manoj Jarange has also said that this reservation is a fraud on the poor Marathas. Therefore, many questions are being raised about the Maratha reservation given by the government. NCP chief Sharad Pawar also commented on the Maratha reservation bill and said that he did not know whether the reservation would last or not.
"Those who give legal advice have doubts in their minds, I have doubts too. I'm glad this issue is resolved. But the bill that was passed yesterday. Similarly, the Prithviraj Chavan government had earlier given reservation to the Maratha community by passing such a bill. However, that reservation did not survive in the High Court. Later, a similar reservation was given when Devendra Fadnavis was the chief minister. But they did not uphold that reservation in the Supreme Court," Pawar said. "Also, if some issues are being resolved, no one opposes the bill just because they don't want opposition just for the sake of opposition. That is why everyone has unanimously decided in favor of the bill," Pawar said.
Now, there is no benefit of EWS
Till now, the Maratha community was in the open category and they were getting the benefit of the 10 percent EWS reservation given by the central government. They won't be able to avail such reservations anymore. However, instead, they got a 10 percent separate reservation today. Taking advantage of the 10 percent reservation in EWS, those belonging to the Maratha community who have so far got jobs or got reservations in educational admissions will not be removed. This is the reservation in the state
Reservation percentage as per category
| Scheduled Castes | 13 |
| Scheduled Tribes | 07 |
| Other Backward Classes, VJNT, SBC total (OBC 19 percent) | 32 |
| Maratha Community | 10 |
| Economically Backward Classes | 10 |
| Total | 72 |