Maharashtra BJP govt revokes 5% Muslim quota in jobs, education
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Mumbai: The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Maharashtra government has revoked the 5 per cent reservation granted to members of the Muslim community in government jobs and educational institutions.
A Government Resolution was issued on Tuesday, February 17, stating that the earlier ordinance providing the quota has lapsed and that the matter is currently under an interim court stay.
The previous Congress–Nationalist Congress Party government had promulgated an ordinance granting a 16 per cent reservation to the Maratha community and 5 per cent to Muslims.
According to the new Government Resolution, all earlier decisions and the ordinance relating to the five per cent quota for the socially and educationally backward Muslim group under the Special Backward Category (A) in government and semi-government employment as well as educational institutions have been annulled.
The order further stated that decisions and circulars issued in 2014 in connection with the quota have been withdrawn. The government has also stopped issuing caste and non-creamy layer certificates to Muslims classified under the Special Backward Category.
The Opposition criticised the move on Wednesday, February 18, describing the government as “anti-minority” for cancelling the reservation in education and public employment.
Former state Congress working committee member Naseem Khan alleged that the ruling Mahayuti coalition had acted unjustly by scrapping the quota. Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Pawar faction) spokesperson Clyde Crasto said the Bharatiya Janata Party does not value Muslim leaders within its own party and its allies.
“It also shows that these Muslim leaders won’t get justice from the BJP,” Crasto said.
The Mahayuti alliance comprises the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Nationalist Congress Party and the Shiv Sena.
Addressing reporters at Tilak Bhavan in Mumbai, Khan termed the decision to withdraw the quota for socially and educationally backward sections within the Muslim community as “extremely wrong”, stating that it would deprive minorities of opportunities to join the mainstream of development.
He noted that the Congress–Nationalist Congress Party government in 2014 had issued the ordinance 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 five per cent educational reservation, its implementation was not ensured,” Khan alleged.
He added that although the quota was implemented during the 2014–15 academic year, it was not continued thereafter despite repeated assurances from the Bharatiya Janata Party government.
Khan further alleged that several welfare schemes for minorities initiated by the previous Congress-led government had been discontinued. He claimed that scholarship allocations had been reduced, with only ₹20 crore sanctioned against an annual requirement of approximately ₹90 crore.
The Congress leader also alleged irregularities in the issuance of minority status certificates to schools.
“Around 70 to 75 schools, including some large educational institutions, have been given minority status certificates. We have learnt that ₹5 to ₹10 lakh was charged for each certificate. The government should cancel these certificates, order a probe by the Crime Investigation Department or constitute a Special Investigation Team, and suspend the officials concerned,” he said.
Khan pointed out that minorities include not only Muslims but also Jains, Sikhs and Parsis, and urged the government to ensure equal development opportunities for all such communities. He reiterated his charge that the government is “anti-minority.”
