November 06, 2023: Namdevrao Jadhav, well-known for his active presence on social media platforms, has recently shared his insights on the Maratha reservation issue. In a post made just hours ago, he has directly accused Sharad Pawar of a significant oversight regarding Maratha reservation, invoking the life and death concerns of the five crore Maratha community members.
Jadhav expressed, “What we state is rooted in thorough research and truth. The well-being of our five crore Maratha brethren is at stake, and if we do not voice our concerns, who will? Those who are dependent and helpless cannot take such a stance. I felt compelled to speak out. If we had obtained our rightful 16 percent reservation at the time, the fate of two generations in the Maratha society might not have been marred. March 23, 1994, stands as a dark day because we erroneously believed that the Chief Minister was on our side.”
In this poignant post, Jadhav explicitly references the date, March 23, 1994, a period when Sharad Pawar served as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Alongside this, he has shared a government resolution (GR) issued by the Maharashtra government on the same day. This GR is related to the implementation of reservations for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in government and semi-government services, in accordance with the Mandal Commission’s recommendations.
The GR stipulated an increase in OBC reservation from 10 percent to 19 percent, amounting to a 9 percent increment, and a combined 3 percent increase in reservation for Scheduled Castes and Nomadic Tribes. Allowing for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, the reservation cap for other communities was set at 30 percent.
Namdevrao Jadhav contends that if Sharad Pawar had also considered the Maratha community at that time, they would have secured a 16 percent reservation. His assertion calls attention to the significance of addressing this historical oversight, which has had a lasting impact on the Maratha community’s socio-economic development.
