Aurangabad, Jul 2 : Union Minister of State and Jalna BJP MP Raosaheb Danve-Patil on Friday asserted that although the Centre has the right to decide that a community is backward after the 102nd Amendment to the Constitution, it cannot take a decision unless the state government sends a report to the State Backward Classes Commission that the Maratha community is backward.
Also, the state government has the right to enact the reservation law after the concerned caste has become backward, he added.

He said that after the decision of the Supreme Court, only the central government has the right to decide on the issue of Maratha reservation.
According to the Supreme Court, after the 102nd Amendment, the central government has the right to include a caste in a state in the list of backward classes. However, the state also has the right to send a report to the Center proving caste backwardness and enact reservation law once it is included in the list, he averred.

He told that in view of the 568-page judgment of the Supreme Court in cancelling the Maratha reservation, the state government wants to get a report from the State Backward Classes Commission and send it to the President for inclusion of a caste in the list of backward classes.
The President then agrees that the caste concerned would be mentioned in the list of backward classes and that the right to legislate for reservation would rest with the state.

The report of the State Backward Classes Commission is very important for all these processes. Apart from that, the Center cannot do anything further. But the Maha Vikas Aghadi government has not yet started the process to get the report, he added.(UNI)