Nagpur: As the State Assembly unanimously passed the Bill giving 16 percent reservation for Marathas under the socially and educationally backward category, celebrations erupted in city.
At Nagpur Municipal Corporation in Civil Lines, the leaders and Corporators of ruling Bharatiya Janata Party distributed sweets and sprinkled gulal on each other.
Led by the Ruling Party Leader in NMC Sandeep Joshi, the BJP Corporators gathered in front of Dr Panjabrao Deshmukh Smruti Sabhagruh and danced to the beats of dhol and tasha (drums) with gaiety. They greeted each other by sprinkling gulal and distributing sweets. The Mayor Nanda Jichkar too joined them and celebrated the passing of Maratha Reservation Bill by the State Assembly.
The Bill has now gone to the Upper House. The Devendra Fadnavis-led Government had, earlier in the day, proposed 16 per cent quota for the Maratha community in jobs and education. The introduction of the Bill was preceded by the action taken report (ATR) on the State Backward Class Commission’s recommendations for Maratha quota before the end of the winter session.
The Maratha community, which constitutes over 30 per cent of the state’s population, has been demanding reservation in government jobs and education for a long time. A cabinet sub-committee chaired by Patil has been holding marathon meetings to prepare the draft bill. The community’s agitation for the same in July and August this year had taken a violent turn.
