New Delhi: The Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission (MSBCC) has highlighted the inadequate representation of the Marathas in all sectors of public services and noted that the community has remained “completely out of the mainstream” due to their backwardness, while also noting an “alarming” rise in girl child marriages in the last six years.
The commission’s report is a part of an affidavit filed by the State General Administration Department (GAD) in response to a batch of petitions challenging the 10% reservation granted to Marathas under the Socially and Educationally Backward Class (SEBC) category in jobs and education, The Indian Express reported.
The commission led by retired Justice Sunil B. Shukre has noted that Marathas have remained “completely out of the mainstream” due to their backwardness.
In 2018, the previous MSBCC, was headed by retired Justice M.G. Gaikwad and its report was based on a survey of 43,629 families, from two villages of each of 355 talukas with more than 50% Maratha population. The Shukre Commission, on the other hand, has surveyed 15 million (1,58,20,264) families across the state and found that Marathas constituted 28% of the state’s population.
According to the 2024 report, total representation of Marathas in government services had decreased from 14.63% in 2018 to 9% in 2024.
The 2024 commission report has pointed to extreme poverty, decline in agricultural income, and partition of land holdings as reasons for the current status of the Marathas.
The commission report also said that the crisis in the community is also noted in the share of Marathas in suicides that have gone up to 94.11%, in comparison to open category which was 5.18%.
The 2024 report has pointed to increasing landlessness among the community. It said that Marathas formed 31.17% of the landless in 2024 in comparison to 8% in 2018.
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The report also said that 43.76% of Maratha women are involved in manual labour for a livelihood. The 2018 report had found 53% men from the community engaged in manual labour in 2018 but the 2024 report has found a decrease at 44.98%.
The report noted a “steady increase indicating worsening living conditions” among the Marathas with 81.81% of the community living in kutcha houses in 2024 – an uptick from 69.8% in 2014 and 70.56% in 2018.
Girl child marriage has also recorded an increase in the community, rising from 0.32% in 2018 to 13.7% in 2024. In comparison the girl child marriage rate among the open category was 7.07%.
It also found “dramatic increase indicating worsening caste perceptions” as 94.32% Marathas faced caste-related inferiority in 2024, compared to 73% in 2018 and 36.76% in 2014.
However, the number of Maratha households below the poverty line had noted a decrease in the last six years. While the commission under Gaikwad in 2018 had found that 37.28% Maratha households were living below the poverty line, in 2024, the Shukre Commission found it had declined to 21.22%.
The Bombay high court is likely to hear the challenge to the SEBC Act, 2024, which was based on the recommendations of the 2018 Shukre Commission on April 10.
