Mumbai: The state government may table a draft bill in the legislative assembly aiming to provide reservation to the Maratha community in government jobs and education, if all goes well. The government, though, is in a dilemma on whether to introduce a fresh bill or the old one in amended form and has sought the opinion of the law and judiciary department in this regard.The winter session of the state legislature starts in Mumbai on Monday.A senior official of the social justice department confirmed that the state had sought an opinion from the law and judiciary department on whether to bring in a new bill or amend the earlier one which was stayed by the Bombay high court.A senior minister said the Backward Classes Commission's report would be tabled before the state cabinet on Sunday ahead of the winter session so that a call on the reservation issue could be taken. "There is no question of reducing the quota by even one per cent from the proposed 16%. Also, a bill in this regard will be tabled and passed in the legislature session," the minister said.Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday said his government would complete all formalities related to the panel's report before November 30. "We have received the report today, and we will process it before November 30. I am sure December 1 will be a day of celebrations for the Marathas," Fadnavis told a public meeting in Ahmednagar.State Congress president Ashok Chavan and leader of opposition Dhananay Munde said that since the commission has submitted its report to the government, it should take a decision in a time-bound manner, while former minister Naseem Khan said it was high time the CM took a decision on providing quota to the Muslims."We fully support a Maratha quota. The CM should immediately take a decision and ensure that reservati - on is granted in a time-bound manner. The Congress-led government had granted reservation in 2014, but the BJP-Sena government miserably failed to protect the reservation in the court," Chavan said. The Bombay high court, while staying the quota, had pointed out that the reservation ceiling cannot exceed the 50% limit set by the Supreme Court except in extraordinary situations and for extraordinary reasons.On July 25, 2014, the then Congress-NCP government headed by Prithviraj Chavan had announced a 16% quota for Marathas but it was stayed by the high court. A public interest litigation challenging reservation is still pending before the HC. -Inputs by Prafulla Marpakwar

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