OBC leaders meet CM, seek clarification

Mumbai: Leaders of other backward classes (OBCs) met chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and asked that their interests be secured ahead of the Maratha reservation. They asked Mr Fadnavis to make a proper clarification on the category “socially and educationally backward class (SEBC)” being given to the Maratha community. They expressed the view that SEBC and OBC carried the same meaning and that would create further confusion.

Leaders such as MLC Haribhau Rathod, Shravan Devhare and others met Mr Fadnavis on Tuesday. There is reaction among the people from the OBC, VJNT communities over the category of Maratha reservation. “In the Constitutional amendment, SEBC is known as OBC. So, if the government is bringing the Maratha community under OBC category, it will be an injustice to OBCs. We conveyed our fear to Mr Fadnavis. He said that the reservation for OBCs will be intact. But we want to know the legal asp-ects of reservation in detail,” said Mr Devhare after the meeting.

Mr Rathod raised the issue of smaller castes within the OBCs. He said that the government would have to clear its stand on what would happen to smaller castes and VJNTs if Marathas were given quota.