Due to the recent government draft notification issued by the state government regarding the inclusion of 'Sagesoyare' of Maratha community in the OBC (Other Backward Classes) category, the reservation of OBCs is likely to be affected. In protest of this notification, a silent march was taken out by the OBC organisation from Ekatmata Chowk to the Additional Collector's office in Malegaon recently. This silent march also reached the office of Guardian Minister Dada Bhuse. A delegation met Guardian Minister Bhuse and presented a memorandum.
The memorandum stated that after the agitation by Manoj Jarange-Patil, the state government issued a notification on January 26, accepting the demands of the Maratha community. However, now the OBC organisations have started opposing the draft notification. The memorandum stated, the said draft is illegal and unconstitutional. If the decision taken by the government to make this draft is not up to the test of law, then there will be further irregularities and malpractices regarding the reservation of other community members.
The Supreme Court and the High Court have often mentioned that caste is inherited from the father while giving judgements in many cases. But, according to the provisions of the proposed draft, issuing caste certificates only on the basis of affidavit and house inquiry is unconstitutional and illegal. Also, it is contrary to the decision given by the Supreme Court and the High Court from time to time. This draft does not stand the test of law in any case, the memorandum stated.
It further stated that reservation to ‘Sagesoyere’ or throughout reservation, is not the criterion of reservation, but social and educational backwardness is. But, as per the criteria in the proposed draft, almost 80 percent of the Maratha community will be included in the OBCs and the original OBCs will be deprived of their rightful reservation.
The memorandum also said that it is unfair to the original OBCs to include the Maratha community, who are not as socially backward as the OBCs, as the reservation given by the constitution is for socially and educationally backward classes.