Muslim quota not possible, says Chandrakant Patil

Mumbai: The state reiterated that the Muslims will not be given reservation on the basis of religion as it will be unconstitutional.

“The backward castes in the Muslim community have already been given reservation by including them in the other backward class (OBC) category,” said revenue minister Chandrakant Patil Monday.

He was replying to a question asked by Congress MLA Shaikh Rashid, who alleged that the state government was being apathetic towards providing reservation to the Muslim community.

“While the high court gave a stay on Maratha reservation in 2015, it did not stay Muslim reservation. Despite this, the state government withdrew five per cent reservation provided to the Muslim community. The high court said that Muslims can be given educational reservation, but the state government is not taking any steps on the same,” said Mr Rashid.

Replying to him, Mr Patil said, “The states of Andhra Pradesh and Kerala had earlier tried to provide reservation on the basis of religion, but it did not prove successful.”

“According to the Constitution, the backward castes in the Muslim community have been included in the OBC category. If more castes are needed to be included, the state government is ready to make such demand to the backward class commission,” said Mr Patil.

After the Maratha and Dhangar communities, the Muslims in Maharashtra have also intensified their demand for five per cent reservation in government jobs and education.