How Maharashtra is doing a balancing act on Scheduled Caste sub-quota

Social justice minister Sanjay Shirsat has assured that no injustice would be done to any community in the sub-categorisation exercise for Scheduled CastesAmidst a growing face-off between Dalit groups over a sub-quota within the quota of reservations for the entire bloc, the Maharashtra government has said that any decision on the matter would be taken after hearing out all sides.Sanjay Shirsat, minister for social justice, assured that no injustice would be done to any section of society in the Scheduled Caste sub-categorisation exercise. “This process is being implemented in a transparent, legal and truthful manner,” he said.Shirsat, who belongs to the Shiv Sena led by deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde, was speaking at a meeting regarding the problems faced by the Matang community, the second largest cohort among SCs.In March, a single-member committee of former Patna High Court judge Justice Anant Manohar Badar had submitted its report to the Maharashtra government regarding the framework for the sub-categorisation of SC quota. The state has appointed another committee under chief secretary Rajesh Aggarwal to invite suggestions and objections on this report and conduct hearings. Shirsat said the Badar committee report was yet to be accepted by the government. The suggestions, objections and memorandums received from various sections would be considered and heard before a proposal for the sub-categorisation is tabled before the state cabinet.Last August, a seven-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court had allowed states to go in for a sub-classification within SC and Scheduled Tribe (ST) quotas.In Maharashtra, SCs get 13 per cent reservation. However, some Hindu Dalit organisations, largely those of the Matang community, allege that Buddhist Dalits—erstwhile members of the Mahar community who converted to Buddhism with Dr B.R. Ambedkar in 1956—have secured most of the benefits at the cost of other groups. They claim that ring-fenced categories or a system of quotas within the SC quota would protect their interests.Buddhist Dalit leaders deny the charge. Fifty-nine castes are included in the SC category, and Buddhist Dalits form the highest numbers.SCs form around 12 per cent of the state’s population. The BJP and Sangh Parivar are seen as having made inroads into Hindu Dalit groups. Matang leaders, such as BJP MLC Amit Gorkhe, are seen as being pitted against Buddhist Dalit and Charmakar groups. While morchas have been organised by both camps, supporters and opposers of the sub-categorisation have also taken their battle to social media.The demand for internal quotas has a precedent in the state as Other Backward Classes (OBCs), who have been given 30 per cent reservation, have been divided into the OBC category (19 per cent) and the Vimukta Jati and Nomadic Tribes (VJNT) (11 per cent). The VJNTs, in turn, are divided into VJ (denotified tribes, 3 per cent) and nomadic tribes (NT) (2.5 per cent), C (Dhangar community, 3.5 per cent) and D (Vanjari community, 2 per cent).Former minister and NCP MLA Rajkumar Badole has pointed out that the Badar committee report had not been made public, yet suggestions and objections had been invited on it. He stated that any such exercise must be undertaken only after a caste-based census and availability of contemporary data on the economic, educational and political progress made by various castes among the SCs.Badole also said that while a presidential order is needed to include a caste in the SC category, it cannot be left to the discretion of states to go in for sub-categorisation. Those against the move also fear that any quota within a quota would divide the sense of consolidation among Dalits, who share similar sociological and historical traits like the stigma of untouchability.In 1965, the report of the central government-appointed advisory committee on the revision of the lists of SCs and STs had noted: “It has been in evidence for some time now that a lion’s share of the various benefits and concessions earmarked for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes is appropriated by the numerically larger and politically well organised communities. The smaller and more backward communities have tended to get lost in democratic processes, though more deserving of special aid. Though there is no escape from the larger and politically more conscious groups asserting themselves in the political field, it appears to us that in matters of planning and development, distribution of benefits needs to be focused on the more backward and smaller groups on a selective basis.”Subscribe to India Today Magazine- EndsPublished By: Akshita JollyPublished On: Aug 6, 2026 17:56 IST