Over the past decade, Maharashtra’s state government workforce has undergone a sharp demographic shift, with the unreserved or “Non-Backward” category steadily losing ground as reserved communities expand their share across the bureaucracy. This falling number is one of the reasons for the state cabinet’s latest recruitment policy for government jobs which has further tightened access to open-category posts by ruling that reserved category candidates who avail concessions such as age relaxation, lower qualification thresholds, or extra exam attempts will no longer be eligible for unreserved seats, regardless of merit ranking. Data comparing state employment patterns between 2015 and July 2024 shows that while the total number of government employees shrank significantly from 5.71 lakh to 4.89 lakh the contraction has disproportionately impacted Non-Backward Classes. In 2015, Non-Backward employees accounted for 31.6% of the state workforce, with 1.80 lakh employees.…