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PERSPECTIVES hence suggested recruitment through March for Backwardness open competition rather than reserva- tion. This would compel us to raise the The Marathas’ Transition from question, what are the factors that led the Competition to Concession Marathas to transition from the mode of competition to concession? Second, what are the background conditions that can explain the Maratha Rajagopal Devara demand for reservation? Why has the demand become so acute today than Overviewing the historical ssertion, agitation and protest for ever before? What are its constitutive trajectory of the demand for the and against reservation policy in conditions that can explain the acute- reservations for Marathas, the A India have a long history which ness that has led to the intensifi cation of began in the closing years of colonial agitation lasting almost for three years background conditions for such rule1 but continue in a much more inten- and continuing even today? This would demand are sought be explained. sifi ed form even after the independence make it necessary to elaborate on the The nature of the agitation for (Bose 1981). In the most recent times, socio-economic and educational condi- reservations and the political there have been many interconnected tions of the Marathas in Maharashtra. developments that occurred across the Third, what has been the nature of the response to the agitation states in India as well as in Maharashtra. expression of the agitation for the reser- are analysed. Across the states, several middle order vation for the Maratha caste? This ques- social/caste groups like the Jats, Gujjars, tion becomes important in the contex Patel and Kapus have been agitating for where it was observed that the agitation, reservation and demanding that they be by and large, remained silent and rela- included in the quota system that has tively peaceful. Thus, it would be quite been implemented in the country right interesting to explain the uniqueness of from its independence. In such agitational the expression and assertion for reserva- politics, the Marathas2 from Maharashtra tion. Fourth, what has been the response have been another intermediate, but domi- of the political class to the agitation? nant caste3 group to assert demand for This question becomes crucial once again reservation in public employment and in the context where the established educational institutions. political leadership from the state was However, the recent Maratha asser- almost totally kept out of the agitation. tion for reservation has been signifi cant Was the agitation, therefore, apolitical in historical sense and quite unique in its in nature? It would be important to articulation and expression of the de- throw some light on the state govern- mand for reservation. It is unique on ac- ment’s response to the Maratha demand counts of the silent mode that the lead- for reservation. And fi nally, how did the ers of the agitation adopted in order to judiciary respond to the concessions push their demands. It has historical sig- granted by the state in response to the nifi cance since at one point in time Mar- agitation for reservation? What is the athas were against the very idea of reser- way forward? These questions become vation (Omvedt 1981). Now, in the most important in the context of the Supreme contemporary times, they have shifted Court’s verdict which has struck down their stance and are agitating for reser- the Maharashtra State Reservation for vation for themselves. This shift in the Socially and Educationally Backward Maratha position on reservation compels Classes (SEBC) Act, 2018. Let us then see us to address the following questions. in brief the historical trajectory of the First, are the Marathas demanding Maratha demand for reservation. reservation for the fi rst time or were they ever the benefi ciary of reservation policy Historical Trajectory Rajagopal Devara ([email protected]) is in its historical evolution? As a corollary Several committees and commissions4 Principal Secretary (Reforms), Department of to this question, at one point in time, the that were instituted from time to time by Finance, Government of Maharashtra. Marathas were against reservation, and the union government and also the state Economic & Political Weekly EPW july 10, 2021 vol lVi no 28 45 PERSPECTIVES government to study socio-economic and the reservation for the Marathas, reser- from economically underdeveloped region educational backwardness of the castes vation is based not only on the economic of Marathwada are more disadvantaged other than the Scheduled Caste (SC) and and education criterion but on caste as compared to the Marathas from western Scheduled Tribe (ST), did not include criteria, meaning thereby, that within and southern Maharashtra (Devara 2020). Marathas in the policy framework of res- the quota, there is no distinction between These Marathas are disadvantaged in ervation (Devara 2020). In this regard, it the lower- and the upper-class Marathas; terms of retaining control over the land is interesting to note that in 1902, Shahu everyone within the caste are placed on as a source of income. Due to adverse Maharaj, the prince of Kolhapur princely an equal footing and are thus identical. climatic conditions and the lack of sus- state, reserved 50% seats in public em- The policy presupposes the Marathas as tainable sources of income, Marathas ployment for the Marathas and other a socially homogeneous group. Although, from the villages studied by the author lower castes.5 Later, in 1919, the South- one cannot deny the fact that in social are more prone to sell their piece of borough Commission also reserved few terms the caste is divided into 96 clans land. The internal economic disparities seats for Marathas in the legislative bodies and 92 clans where the former are con- within Marathas can further be deline- that were created in the fi rst half of the sidered as pure. One has to accept that ated from the following account of the 20th century.6 Maratha caste is not a homogeneous economic status of Marathas. However, after independence, the Mara- social entity. Like other communities in Capitalist development mediated thro- thas along with other non-untouchable India, apart from the stratifi cation based ugh the process of urbanisation, com- castes like Brahmins, Rajputs and Bhumi- on the social structure and inherent hier- bined with the rise of new Maratha lead- hars, did not form the part of reservation archy, there is an economic stratifi ca- ership through the green revolution and policy that was continued only for the tion, which is visible within the Maratha the cooperative sugar factories in the SC/ST and Anglo Indian community.7 community. state, has thrown up new patterns of in- Thus, till the recommendation of the For instance, one does not require ternal stratifi cation among the Maratha– Gaikwad Committee constituted by the statistics to prove the economic division Kunbi cluster. According to a study con- Government of Maharashtra, Marathas among the Marathas of Marathwada and ducted by Dehspande and Palshikar in were unsuccessful in their attempt to seek western Maharashtra. The landholdings 2008, “Around 20 per cent of sampled recommendation from the commissions8 of the Marathas of western Maharashtra, Maratha respondents were landless la- and the committees that were constituted are endowed with perennial irrigation bourers and 15 per cent had less than by the state government to assess the and resultant cash crops and agri-pro- three acres each.” The survey found only socio-economic and educational back- cessing industry and dairy produce. 3% of rich Marathas among the sampled wardness that served the basis for recom- Poor irrigation resources in Marathwada families in 2014. The same scholars con- mendation for reservation. Failure to get do have an adverse impact on the agri- ducted another survey in 2013 among institutional backup led the Marathas to cultural productivity and related agro- 800 households in two villages, one in demand for a separate committee so industrial products. According to a rough western Maharashtra and the other in that their demand for reservation could estimate, an average Maratha farmer Marathwada, and concluded that “land be justifi ed. Though it was a procedural with a landholding of 2 acre cultivating ownership patterns suggest nearly 65 reason to understand the Maratha agita- sugar cane from rich western Maharashtra per cent of Marathas are poor, whereas tion for reservation, there were struc- earns a minimum of `2.40 lakh per annum hardly four per cent own more than 20 tural reasons too that led the Marathas besides supplemental income of `60,000 acres of land and thus may be classifi ed as to demand reservation. from dairy/allied activities.9,10 Whereas rich farmers” (Kushal and Mishra 2015). their counterpart from Marathwada earn The disadvantage and the resultant From Competition to Concession an average income of around `70,000 to sense of deprivation emanated on the As mentioned above, the demand for `75,000 per hectare from cotton and one hand from declining income from reservation for Marathas suggests that soya bean together under kharif and agriculture, and on the other, their inabil- they are making a move from competition rabi season.11,12 Besides assured irrigation, ity to fi nd alternative opportunities and to concession or more protective entry sugar cane cultivation gives steady in- employment in the techno-innovation into the employment market and higher come to Maratha farmers from western driven new job market (Kumar 2009). education avenues. This would make it Maharashtra, as the Marathwada farmers In post-independence India, Marathas necessary for us to examine the factors are exposed to market price fl uctuations, have enjoyed uninterrupted political other than the institutional rejection that monsoon failures with no/little supple- hegemony in Maharashtra.

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