State issues 2.88 lakh Kunbi certificates to Marathas in Marathwada

This signals the inclusion of 2.8 lakh Maratha families whose Kunbi certificates were approved in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) quota, making them eligible for OBC reservations in government jobs and educational institutions

MUMBAI: The state government has issued 2,88,179 Kunbi certificates based on documents collated by a committee constituted under Justice (Retd) Sandeep Shinde, following the agitation led by Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil in August–September last year.

State issues 2.88 lakh Kunbi certificates to Marathas in Marathwada

This signals the inclusion of 2.8 lakh Maratha families whose Kunbi certificates were approved in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) quota, making them eligible for OBC reservations in government jobs and educational institutions.

The cabinet sub-committee appointed for Maratha reservations under water resources minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil held a meeting last week to take stock of the issuance of these certificates. According to data furnished before the committee, the state revenue machinery issued 2,88,179 certificates against 2,88,789 applications in eight districts of Marathwada until March 5. The government machinery has rejected just 407 applications and a decision is yet to be taken on 203 applications.

Topping the eight districts is Beed, which accounts for over two-thirds of the certificates issued – 1,97,795; followed by 22,056 in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, 17,322 in Dharashiv and 16,843 in Jalna. Certificates were issued on the basis of 49,059 documents that establish Kunbi lineage collated by the revenue machinery in these eight districts. Of these documents, the highest number – 23,036 – was found in Beed, 5,122 in Dharashiv, and 5,002 in Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar.

The Sandeep Shinde committee was set up by the state government following a sustained campaign by Jarange-Patil since September 2023. The committee was tasked with identifying historical documents prior to independence from colonial rule, to establish the Kunbi lineage of the Maratha community. The committee collated over 5.7 million such documents across the state, which is facilitating the inclusion of Marathas in the OBC category.

Jarange-Patil had insisted on Kunbi certificates for Marathas from Marathwada, which was under the Nizam’s rule until September 1948. He contended that Marathas in Marathwada could not obtain Kunbi certificates earlier, in the absence of documents from Nizam’s era. Some of these historical documents were procured from Hyderabad in Telangana, where historical documents from the Nizam era are preserved.

OBC leaders, however, are opposing the inclusion of Marathas in the OBC category as it would potentially corner some of their government benefits. Mrunal Dhole Patil, OBC quota activist and petitioner, claims the data released by the government is not accurate. “The number of certificates is much higher than that released, and there are discrepancies in the figures. We have been demanding that the actual figures be released, but the information is denied under the Right To Information Act,” he said.

“The state government is not only disturbing our quota by including more Marathas in it, but also misguiding Marathas as these certificates will not stand legal scrutiny. Maratha youth securing admissions or jobs could lose these privileges in future if the issue is challenged in court,” he said.