Maha to issue Kunbi caste certificates to eligible Marathas

The Maharashtra government published an order on Tuesday 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.

A government resolution (GR) asked the officials to translate old documents having references to Kunbis and written in Urdu and 'Modi' script (which was used to write Marathi language in earlier times). These documents are to be digitised, attested and then put in public domain.

The decision comes a day after Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said a government-appointed committee scrutinised 1.72 crore old documents (including those of Nizam-era) and among them, 11,530 records were found where Kunbi caste was mentioned.

Kunbis, a community associated with agriculture, are grouped under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category in Maharashtra and enjoy reservation benefits in education and government jobs.

To validate the evidence documents submitted by 12 different departments of the Maharashtra government, the administration has been asked to modify the 2012 rules for issuing caste certificates to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Nomadic Tribes and OBCs, said the GR.

It said the officials should adhere to the procedure recommended by the government-appointed Justice Sandeep Shinde (retired) committee for granting Kunbi caste certificates to the Marathas in the Marathwada region.

Earlier in the day, the government accepted the first report of the committee which was appointed in the wake of the fresh agitation launched by Maratha community members seeking reservation in public jobs and educational institutes.

The GR also approved the appointment of three retired judges -- Justice Dilip Bhosale, Justice Maroti Gaikwad and Justice Sandeep Shinde -- to act as advisory council members for the government. Justice Bhosale will serve as the council chairman.

The State Backward Class Commission will be asked to collect fresh empirical data to assess the educational and social backwardness of the Maratha community, said the order.

These decisions came amid activist Manoj Jarange's indefinite fast at a village in Jalna district in support of quota for the Maratha community, which entered the seventh day on Tuesday, and incidents of violence mainly in the Marathwada region.