Maharashtra cabinet minister Chhagan Bhujbal has demanded a stay on the Kunbi caste certificates issued to Marathas following their latest agitation for reservation and scrapping of the Justice (retired) Sandeep Shinde committee formed over the quota issue.
Bhujbal also said he was not against separate reservation for Marathas, but was opposed to the "ongoing practice of obtaining Kunbi (caste) certificates by submitting fake or forged documents."
The state government had set up the five-member panel headed by Justice Shinde to decide the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for giving Kunbi certificates to members of the Maratha community who (or whose ancestors) were referred to as Kunbis in Nizam-era documents.
Kunbis (the community associated with agriculture) are grouped under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category in Maharashtra.
The state government on October 31 published an order asking officials concerned to issue fresh Kunbi caste certificates to eligible Maratha community members, paving the way for them to avail reservation benefits under the OBC category.
Bhujbal has said the existing reservation for the OBCs should not be curtailed while giving reservation to Marathas.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Bhujbal, a prominent OBC leader, said Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had set up the committee to find out Kunbi lineage from the Nizam regime in the pre-independence period.
"I have no issues with this process. I am opposed to people from other regions of the state who are making fake claims to obtain Kunbi certificates so that they can enjoy the existing benefits of reservation in education and government jobs,” he said.
The Shinde committee found sufficient number of proofs in the Marathwada region. Eligible people from Marathwada should get the certificates. Its work is done, now it should be discontinued,” said the minister.
Bhujbal made the similar demand on Sunday at a rally of OBC communities in Hingoli district. He also appealed to the communities to unite and fight for their rights.
He said the Marathas will be given Kunbi caste certificates across the state, which means there will be no Maratha community left in the state.
"There should be a stay on the Kunbi caste certificates which have been issued in the past two months," he said at the rally.
Bhujbal said the number of records pertaining to Kunbi caste has been found to be on a rise.
The Shinde committee formed by the government should now be dissolved. The caste-wise backwardness should be checked through a survey of all communities along with the Maratha community and then the facilities should be given," he said.
A comparative study should be done of all communities, he added.
"I don't oppose giving reservation to Marathas but they should be given reservation separately," the minister said.
”Our (OBC) leader Prakash Shendge has shown some 7-8 documents to the chief minister where old certificates were tampered with a pen. Such fake claims should not be entertained and Kunbi certificates should not be given to people on the basis of such forged documents," he said.
One can draw a conclusion from such examples as to how serious and rampant such practice would have been on the ground, Bhujbal said.
Asked about he being portrayed as a strong opponent of the Maratha quota demand, Bhujbal said the Supreme Court has already stated that Marathas cannot be categorised as OBC.
"The Maratha community can avail a separate reservation. I am not opposed to it. My opposition is against the ongoing practice of obtaining Kunbi certificates by submitting fake or forged documents,” the minister said.
"When the first list of OBCs came out after the Mandal Commission's report was accepted by the Union government, some 200 backward communities were identified. Later more communities were identified as OBCs and the number increased to more than 350. I never opposed such a change,” he said.
On quota activist Manoj Jarange's recent remark that Marathas had to work under undeserving people, Bhujbal said, "But these were the people who worked with Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Many saints were also from the (OBC) community and now the new leader (Jarange) says that we are undeserving."
Bhujbal said candidates from the OBC category were proving themselves in various exams.
Their merit list cut-off in competitive exams is equivalent to the open category, he said.
Bhujbal also said that facilities and funds given to SARTHI should also be given to Mahajyoti, the autonomous Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Research & Training Institute of the Other Backward Class Bahujan Welfare department.
Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj Research, Training and Human Development Institute (SARTHI) is an autonomous institute of the Maharashtra government established for the social, economic and educational development of the Maratha and Maratha-Kunbi sections.
