Centre should take initiative to lift 50 per cent quota ceiling: Maha CM

The Centre should lift the 50 per cent cap on reservations to ensure that the Maratha quota is restored Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said on SundayWithout such relaxation permitting states to prepare their list of OBCs Other Backward Classes and providing reservations will not help he said while addressing people of the state in a live webcastWhen I met prime minister Narendra Modi in Delhi in June I told him that since the Supreme Court has quashed the Maratha quota and ruled that states had no right to provide reservations the Central government should take the initiative to relax the 5037 reservation ceiling Now that the Centre has given the right to prepare OBC lists to states it should relax the 50 per cent cap on reservations I hope the prime minister would do so he saidThackeray said the empirical OBC data and amending the NDRF norms were the two other demands he raised with the PM My government is committed to finding permanent solutions to flooding cyclones and landslides which have become a permanent feature triggering floods and causing loss to life and property he addedThe Union Cabinet is learnt to have cleared a Constitution amendment bill that seeks to give power to states and UTs to make their own OBC lists The bill will now be introduced in Parliament for passage sources said in Delhi on WednesdayThe Supreme Court had dismissed the Centres plea seeking review of the May 5 majority verdict which held that the 102nd constitution amendment took away the states powers to declare socially and educationally backward classes SEBC for grant of quota in jobs and admissionsThe Maharashtra government had granted reservation to the Marathas in jobs and education under the SEBC category On May 5 a fivejudge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court had unanimously set aside the quota for Marathas and refused to refer the 1992 Mandal verdict putting a cap of 50 per cent on reservations to a larger benchThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever