Devendra Fadnavis hails Supreme Court on 10% quota for EWS

Devendra Fadnavis, the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, applauded the Supreme Court’s decision on the quota for the Economically Weaker Sections on Monday (EWS).

The Maharashtra government is also “working on providing Maratha reservations in the state,” according to Fadnavis, who said that the EWS reservation will be given to those who are financially disadvantaged but do not qualify for any caste-based quotas.

“The Supreme Court gave a green signal to PM (Narendra) Modi’s 10% EWS reservation quota, which will create new educational & employment opportunities. We are also working on providing Maratha reservations in the state. Meanwhile, eligible people of the state can avail of benefits under the 10% EWS reservation quota,” Fadnavis told ANI.

A constitution bench of the Supreme Court supported the central law for 10% reservation to people belonging to the EWS category in a 3-2 judgment on Monday. Justice Dinesh Maheshwari said that it “does not violate the Constitution’s basic structure or equality code by taking into account economic criteria”.

“It does not also cause damage to any essential feature by exceeding the 50% ceiling for quota since the ceiling is itself flexible,” he said.

The 103rd Constitutional Amendment, which the Center promulgated in 2019, was challenged in 40 petitions. A five-judge constitution bench presided over by Chief Justice UU Lalit, issued four separate rulings on those petitions.