Maharashtra Cabinet Clears Revised 5% Job Quota for Sportspersons
The Maharashtra Cabinet on Tuesday approved a revised policy to bring uniformity and clarity to the 5% parallel reservation in government jobs for meritorious sportspersons. The decision was taken during a Cabinet meeting held in Mumbai under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Under the newly approved policy, eligible candidates will be required to get their sports certificates validated within three months.
The 5% quota applies to direct recruitment across Group A, B, C, and D posts in state government departments and their subordinate offices. The reservation extends to Zilla Parishads, Panchayat Samitis, Gram Panchayats, municipal corporations, state government undertakings, boards, corporations, and universities. It will also cover government-aided educational institutions, ashram schools, cooperative institutions including banks and sugar factories, and recognised voluntary organisations receiving government grants or financial aid.
To prevent the submission of fraudulent credentials, the Cabinet introduced the Krida E-Praman automated digital system for sports certificate verification. Under this mechanism, tournament organisers will be required to upload digitally signed results within seven days of a competition concluding. The platform will utilise blockchain technology to preserve records permanently and prevent tampering, relying on automated cryptographic hashing to verify authenticity immediately.
The state government has cancelled all earlier government resolutions regarding the 5% sports quota and will issue a single consolidated Government Resolution shortly. Athletes who qualified for reservation under earlier policies will also be required to validate their certificates through the new system within three months from the date the new resolution is issued.
The revised framework establishes specific qualification tiers across administrative levels. Group A eligibility requires medals from recognised international events such as the Olympic Games, Asian Games, senior World Championships or Cups, Asian Championships or Cups, Commonwealth Games, senior Commonwealth Championships or Cups, or Paralympic and Para Asian Games. Chess Grandmasters and Grand Slam tennis competitors also qualify for Group A roles.
For Group B gazetted posts, medal winners from youth and junior world, Asian, and Commonwealth championships, Youth Olympic Games, under-19 international school competitions, and World University Games are eligible. Group B non-gazetted positions cover medalists from the National Games, national championships, Federation Cups, and under-19 national school competitions. Group C posts encompass medal winners from Khelo India, inter-university tournaments, and state-level events, while Group D positions include participants from senior-level National Games and national championships.
The policy covers disciplines including athletics, archery, badminton, basketball, boxing, canoeing, cricket, cycling, football, gymnastics, hockey, kabaddi, kho-kho, mallakhamb, swimming, shooting, wrestling, and tennis, alongside traditional Indian sports and events featured in three consecutive Summer Olympics after 2005.
