Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday said the state government will grant 16% quota to candidates of the Maratha community in 72,000 jobs, if the Bombay High Court allows it. The government intends to fill the 72,000 vacancies across its various departments in two equal batches, PTI reported.

The chief minister made the announcement in the Maharashtra Assembly after protests by Opposition legislators in the Legislative Council demanding that members of the Dhangar community be granted reservation under the Scheduled Tribe category.

Dhangar community is listed under the Vimukta Jati and Nomadic Tribes. The community has been demanding inclusion in the Scheduled Tribe category. The community has claimed that the Centre provides quota benefits to Dhankad community, and not the Dhangars, because of a spelling error.

“Some people are saying that the posts won’t be available for the Marathas in case the High Court announces reservation for them if we went ahead with the mega recruitment,” Fadnavis said according to PTI. “I would like to assure that we have more posts available than this. Even if we fill the 72,000 posts, 16% posts would be filled as a backlog as and when reservation is granted to Marathas.”

The recruitment drive was cleared by the Maharashtra Cabinet in May to overcome a severe staff shortage, especially in the agriculture and rural sector.

The chief minister added that the Tata Institute of Social Sciences will submit a report to the government about the backwardness of the Dhangar community “at any time [soon]”. “Based on that report, we would make a recommendation to the Centre,” Fadnavis said.

Fadnavis also urged members of the Maratha and Dhangar communities not to protest in Pandharpur city on July 23, the day of Ashadi Ekadashi, to avoid inconveniencing devotees visiting the Vithoba Temple. The chief minister’s appeal came after legislators in the council warned of violent agitation if their demands were not met, The Times of India reported.

Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government had not implemented 5% reservation for Muslims in educational institutions despite a Bombay High Court order. Fadnavis replied that the government had sought the opinion of the court in connection with the matter.

In 2014, the Bombay High Court stayed the implementation of reservations for the Maratha community, a decision taken by the former Congress-Nationalist Congress Party government. It also stayed the government’s decision to provide reservation to Muslims in public sector jobs but allowed it in educational institutions.