Committee on Maratha quota to gather records from pre-independence, Shivaji eras

The Shinde committee was formed to decide the modalities of issuing Kunbi certificates to Marathas and issuing guidelines to facilitate them. After Maratha reservation activist Jarange-Patil commenced an indefinite hunger strike for the second time, the state government on November 2 announced the widening of the committee’s scope

MUMBAI: In its first meeting after the state government widened its scope to encompass the whole state, the committee headed by retired judge Sandeep Shinde directed collectors from all districts to get hold of records from the pre-independence era and the Shivaji era from the erstwhile princely states of Satara and Kolhapur. Collectors from the rest of Maharashtra have started the process of gathering historical data on the lines of that collected in eight districts in central Maharashtra to facilitate Kunbi certificates for the Maratha community.

HT Image

The Shinde committee was formed to decide the modalities of issuing Kunbi certificates to Marathas and issuing guidelines to facilitate them. After Maratha reservation activist Jarange-Patil commenced an indefinite hunger strike for the second time, the state government on November 2 announced the widening of the committee’s scope.

“Committee head Shinde has directed collectors to gather documents that will stand up to technical and legal scrutiny,” said a committee member. “For this, they have been asked to refer to the list submitted in the committee’s preliminary report last week. Apart from this, they have been told to follow the guidelines applicable to OBC certificates, which need records prior to October 1967. They are also expected to conform to parameters set by the caste validity committees that validate the certificates.”

The collectors have also been asked to gather data from the Shivaji era from princely states in districts like Satara and Kolhapur. “These documents will play a key role like the Nizam-era documents did in eight districts of central Maharashtra,” said another officer. “Many Shivaji-era documents have Shivaji being referred to as a Kunbi, and Marathas will benefit from this.”

The Shinde committee has found 14,976 documents related to Kunbis, a sub-caste of the Maratha community, over the last one month. Of these, 9,755 documents have been scanned and the translation of 8,729 documents from languages like Modi and Urdu is under way. The committee has uploaded 4,282 documents, on the basis of which Marathas are being given Kunbi certificates to enable them to be included in the OBC category.

The Shinde committee will begin visiting districts in the rest of Maharashtra in the next few weeks and is expected to submit its report by December 24. “Almost 90 percent of eligible people in Vidarbha have been given Kunbi certificates and have been included in the OBC category,” said another committee member. “The state government, in a special drive in 2018, distributed over four lakh Kunbi certificates to Marathas in western Maharashtra. Even in the rest of the state, obtaining a Kunbi certificate was not as difficult as it is in central Maharashtra. Given this background, the committee may not find old records related to Kunbis in the rest of Maharashtra but even other kinds of documents could help more Marathas to get the certificates.”

Meanwhile, a cabinet sub-committee on Maratha reservation headed by higher and technical education minister Chandrakant Patil held a meeting to take a review. “We have decided to visit Delhi to ensure that the curative petition comes up for hearing in the Supreme Court at the earliest,” said excise minister Shambhuraj Desai.