Caste, Reservation, Tribes, Women & Urbanisation in Maharashtra — Practice

Question 1

Why does Maharashtra have the largest Buddhist population of any state?

Accepted Answer

Because of Dr Ambedkar's conversion to Buddhism at Nagpur in 1956 with large numbers of his followers, whose communities form most of India's Buddhists today.

Question 2

Name Maharashtra's Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups.

Accepted Answer

The Katkari (Kathodi), the Kolam and the Madia Gond.

Question 3

What does VJNT stand for in Maharashtra's reservation structure?

Accepted Answer

Vimukta Jati (denotified tribes) and Nomadic Tribes, which together have 11 per cent reservation in sub-categories VJ-A, NT-B, NT-C and NT-D.

Question 4

On what main ground did the Supreme Court strike down the 2018 Maratha reservation law?

Accepted Answer

In 2021 it found no exceptional circumstance to justify breaching the 50 per cent ceiling laid down in Indra Sawhney (1992).

Question 5

What is MAVIM?

Accepted Answer

The Mahila Arthik Vikas Mahamandal, set up in 1975, the state's nodal agency for women's self-help groups.

Question 6

Examine the problem of malnutrition among Adivasi communities in Maharashtra. (~150 words)

Accepted Answer

Malnutrition and child deaths have recurred in Adivasi areas such as Melghat in Amravati and Nandurbar for decades, and have been the subject of court cases and inquiries. The causes include poverty and seasonal hunger, poor access to health care in remote forest villages, early marriage and frequent pregnancies, and gaps in the delivery of nutrition schemes. Successful responses exist. SEARCH, founded in Gadchiroli by Dr Abhay and Dr Rani Bang, showed that trained village women providing home-based newborn care could cut infant deaths, a model later adopted nationally. The way forward combines community health workers, strengthened anganwadis with local food, secure forest livelihoods under the Forest Rights Act, and accountable monitoring of child growth.

Question 7

Discuss the challenges of urbanisation in Maharashtra. (~150 words)

Accepted Answer

Maharashtra was 45 per cent urban in 2011, and its cities drive its economy, but growth has outrun planning. Housing is the sharpest problem: the state had the largest slum population in India, about 1.18 crore people, with Dharavi among Asia's largest informal settlements. Water, sewerage and transport lag behind demand, and Mumbai's 2005 floods showed the cost of blocked drains and lost wetlands. Mangroves and hills have been lost to construction, and air quality is poor. Municipal bodies depend on the state for funds and powers, and long gaps in local elections weakened accountability. The answer lies in rental and in-situ slum housing, mass transit, protected wetlands and mangroves, and municipal bodies with their own revenue and elected leadership.

Question 8

Discuss the constitutional issues raised by the Maratha reservation question. (~250 words)

Accepted Answer

The question turns on four constitutional issues. The first is the 50 per cent ceiling: Indra Sawhney (1992) held that reservation should not normally exceed half, save in extraordinary circumstances, and in 2021 the Supreme Court found that the 2018 Maratha law showed no such circumstance and struck it down. The second is who identifies backward classes. The Court read the 102nd Amendment as placing that power with the Centre; the 105th Amendment of 2021 restored it to the states. The third is the evidence of backwardness: quotas must rest on quantifiable data on social and educational backwardness and inadequate representation. The Gaikwad Commission of 2018 and the Shukre Commission of 2024 each produced such data, and its adequacy is what the courts examine. The fourth is the effect on other groups: issuing Kunbi certificates to Marathas with historical records moves them into the OBC pool, which OBC groups fear will dilute their share. The 2024 Act, granting 10 per cent, is before the Bombay High Court, with admissions and appointments subject to its outcome. A durable answer lies beyond quotas: farm incomes, education and non-farm jobs for the rural poor of every community, and transparent data from a caste-inclusive census.

Question 9

What issues do seasonal sugarcane-cutting migrants from Marathwada face? (~150 words)

Accepted Answer

Every season lakhs of workers, many from Beed and other Marathwada districts, migrate as couples to cut cane in western Maharashtra and Karnataka. They are paid through contractors, often against advances that tie them to the work, and live in makeshift camps without water, sanitation or health care. Children either travel and miss school or are left behind. Women bear a double burden, and reports in 2019 of high rates of hysterectomy among women cane cutters, linked to fear of losing work days, led to a state inquiry. The remedies include registration of migrant workers, welfare boards and insurance, seasonal hostels and schooling for children, health camps at worksites, and direct wage contracts that reduce dependence on middlemen.

Practice — Caste, Reservation, Tribes, Women & Urbanisation in Maharashtra

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