On Monday, Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Chhagan Bhujbal stated that the committee led by retired Justice Sandeep Shinde, established to address the Maratha quota demand issue, should be discontinued as its work is over.
Bhujbal also said he was not against a 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.
Bhujbal has said the existing reservation for the OBCs should not be curtailed while giving reservation to Marathas. Speaking to reporters on Monday, Bhujbal 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, who is a prominent Other Backward Classes (OBC) leader. Bhujbal made the similar demand on Sunday at a public rally in Hingoli district. 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.
In Maharashtra, the Kunbi community, traditionally associated with agriculture, is categorized under the OBC. Activist Manoj Jarange, representing the Maratha community, has been advocating for the issuance of Kunbi certificates to Marathas. This move aims to enable Marathas to be included in the OBC category, thereby securing reservation benefits in government jobs and educational opportunities.