Marathas belonging to the Kunbi caste group have started getting caste certificates after the Maharashtra government accepted the report of a concerned committee today. The Kunbi community is eligible for reservation in the Other Backward Classes category.
"The first report of the Justice (Retd) Sandeep Shinde committee has been submitted. The process of granting Kunbi certificates to Marathas has started," read a statement from the Chief Minister's Office.
At a meeting with Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, the cabinet also decided that the OBC Commission will collect fresh empirical data to assess educational and social backwardness of the Maratha community.
The government action came after it accepted the report of the committee headed by retired High Court judge Sandeep Shinde. The committee was tasked with deciding the procedure for granting Kunbi caste certificates to Marathas.
The certificates will be given to members of the Maratha community who (or whose ancestors) were referred to as Kunbis in Nizam-era documents. The Marathwada region of present-day Maharashtra was part of the Hyderabad state until 1948.
The Shinde Committee report said after examining the documents of 1 lakh people, 11,530 Marathas were found to have documents of being Kunbi.
The Marathas have been on the warpath for the last several years, with their demand for inclusion in the OBC category, which would make them eligible for quota in jobs and education.
Over the last months, violence has been reported from parts of the state, and an activist, Manoj Jarange, has started an indefinite fast to push the demand.
On Monday, NCP MLA Prakash Solanki's house was set on fire during a Maratha protest. The office of Sharad Pawar faction in Beed was set on fire. Beed Municipal Council was also set on fire and vandalized. The administration has imposed Section 144 in Beed.
Security at the homes of NCP's Chhagan Bhujbal and Union Minister Narayan Rane has also been increased.
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