A reservation system that has served some Scheduled Caste communities well for decades has, by that very success, left others behind — and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is now publicly committing to fix that gap. On Tuesday, 29 September 2026, Fadnavis posted in both Marathi and Hindi from Mumbai, stating that the Maharashtra government's position is unanimous: sub-classify Scheduled Caste reservations in line with the Supreme Court of India's landmark ruling, so that communities that have received little or no benefit until now finally get their share. In his own words: 'अनुसूचित जातींमधील ज्या लोकांना आतापर्यंत आरक्षणाचा लाभ मिळालेला नाही, त्यांना आरक्षणाचा लाभ मिळवून देण्यासाठी सर्वोच्च न्यायालयाच्या निर्णयानुसार एकमताने उपवर्गीकरण करण्याची आमची भूमिका आहे.' — 'Our position is to unanimously carry out sub-classification in accordance with the Supreme Court's decision, so that those within Scheduled Castes who have not yet received reservation benefits are able to get them.'

The Supreme Court verdict that opened the door

The legal foundation for this move stretches back to August 2024, when the Supreme Court of India delivered a constitutional-bench ruling that upended three decades of settled law. The court overruled its own 2004 E.V. Chinnaiah judgment, which had held that Scheduled Castes formed a homogeneous group and could not be further divided for reservation purposes. The new ruling recognised a hard social reality: within the broad SC umbrella, some communities have historically cornered a disproportionate share of government jobs and educational seats, while the most marginalised sub-groups have remained almost entirely shut out. States, the court ruled, may now create sub-categories to route benefits toward those at the very bottom.

Maharashtra's unanimous stance and what it signals

The word Fadnavis chose to repeat — ekmatane (unanimously) in Marathi, ekmat se in Hindi — is not incidental. Sub-classification is politically charged: communities that have benefited from the existing structure are wary of any dilution, while the most excluded groups have long demanded corrective action. By framing this as a unanimous government position, Fadnavis is signalling cross-party or cross-faction buy-in within the ruling dispensation, pre-empting the narrative that this is a divisive move. Maharashtra is home to a large and politically significant SC population, making any reservation reform here a decision with state-wide electoral and social reverberations. Several other states have examined or initiated steps toward SC sub-classification since the 2024 Supreme Court verdict. Maharashtra's public declaration now places it among the states formally moving in that direction, raising the immediate question of what legislative or executive instrument the government will deploy — and how quickly. The watch-point is implementation: the Supreme Court permitted sub-classification but set conditions around empirical data and non-arbitrariness. Any Maharashtra framework will face scrutiny on whether the sub-categories are backed by credible evidence of differential representation — and whether affected communities accept the formula or challenge it in court. For the communities at the bottom of the SC ladder, the promise is significant. Whether it becomes policy is the next test.