The Maharashtra cabinet on Sunday approved reservation to the Maratha community, which has been agitating since last year demanding reservation in jobs and education.

The Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission had earlier recommended a 16 per cent reservation to Marathas. This quota will be over and above the current 52% reservation in the state taking the total up to 68 per cent.

The recommendations of the commission said the Marathas were socially and educationally backward class and were not adequately represented, because of which they should be provided the quota under SCBC. The quantum of reservation has not been decided yet

The Maharashtra government had referred the issue of Maratha reservation to the backward class commission in June 2017. The commission started working on the issue since August 2017.

The state legislature in 2014 passed a bill to grant quota to the community. That law was stayed by the Bombay High Court. The present government had then approached the Supreme Court. With no relief in sight in the apex court, the state government again approached the High Court, which asked it to form a backward commission and submit a report through it.

Over the last 15 months, the commission has visited several parts of Maharashtra and they have heard grievances of around 2, 00,000 members of the Maratha community members which was also followed by a survey of 25,000 families.

The data from the survey was collated with the grievances put forth by the community members during public hearings and this herculean exercise took months to be completed. The commission sources have told News18 that the efforts were taken to ensure that the provision doesn't fail the legal test.

In the aftermath of the agrarian crisis in the state, the Marathas, who form around a third of the state's nearly 13 crore population, have been agitating since last year demanding reservation in jobs and education.

Initially, the protesters held over 50 'mook morchas' (silent marches) in 2016 and 2017 across the state pressing for reservation among other demands. The protests took a violent in August this year when protesters attacked buses, stopped train services and blocked highways in parts of the state. This round of violece also saw a youth commit suicide by flinging himself in Godavari river in Aurangabad, while a demonstrator died by consuming poison. As many as 194 people were arrested by the police for rioting and arson.

Apart from demanding a decision on their demands at the earliest, the community members sought a waiver of farmer loans, justice in Kopardi rape case and a solution to unemployment.