CM-Maratha delegation hold talks in late-night meeting

Jarange-Patil’s contention is that Kunbis in eight districts of central Maharashtra or Marathwada were listed as Kunbis during the rule of the Nizam in pre-independence India, and thus should be entitled to reservation benefits in the OBC quota

Mumbai: With the ultimatum given by Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange-Patil ending on Saturday, the state government has stepped up its efforts to convince him to withdraw his indefinite hunger strike. Late on Friday night, chief minister Eknath Shinde met a delegation of 13 Marathas who Jarange-Patil sent in his stead for negotiations. The government had requested him to come personally but he refused.

On Wednesday, CM Shinde announced that those Marathas who could produce documents that listed them as Kunbis in the pre-Nizam era would be given Kunbi certificates, paving the way for them to get reservation in the OBC category. He also announced the appointment of a committee under retired judge Sandeep Shinde to verify the documents submitted for this and to fix the procedure to issue these Maratha-Kunbi or Kunbi-Maratha certificates. (Anshuman Poyrekar/HT PHOTO)

Jarange-Patil’s contention is that Kunbis in eight districts of central Maharashtra or Marathwada were listed as Kunbis during the rule of the Nizam in pre-independence India, and thus should be entitled to reservation benefits in the OBC quota. The state government, in May this year, appointed a committee under the additional chief secretary of the revenue department to collate documents from the Nizam era to verify if the demand was tenable.

On Wednesday, CM Shinde announced that those Marathas who could produce documents that listed them as Kunbis in the pre-Nizam era would be given Kunbi certificates, paving the way for them to get reservation in the OBC category. He also announced the appointment of a committee under retired judge Sandeep Shinde to verify the documents submitted for this and to fix the procedure to issue these Maratha-Kunbi or Kunbi-Maratha certificates.

Jarange-Patil and other community leaders, however, are now demanding that the government take a liberal stand and issue Kunbi certificates to all Marathas without insisting on records related to family lineage. On Thursday, the activist announced that he would continue his hunger strike, which he began in Antarwali-Sarati in Jalna on August 29, until the state government removed the condition of family lineage. He added that as per his four-day ultimatum, he would stop drinking water and taking medical treatment from Saturday if this condition was not accepted by the government.

“We are concerned about the health of Jarange-Patil. He should accept our request and call off his hunger strike,” rural development minister Girish Mahajan said before the Friday meeting.

Meanwhile, the committee headed by additional chief secretary Rajgopal Devara has collated over 40 lakh documents from almost all the eight districts of Marathwada and found documents with Kunbi records in the pre-Nizam era documents. “However, very few of these documents have the family lineage records of Kunbis on them,” said an official from Mantralaya. “It is uncertain whether they will stand up to legal and administrative requirements.”

Another officer said that they had received documents from the Telangana government on the government’s request. “The documents are related to gift deeds, donations, gazettes and sanads (a type of notification) issued during Nizam rule,” he said. “The documents will be handed over to the committee of the retired judge on Monday. It will take a call on the verification of the documents and the process to be followed to issue certificates.”