State kicks off distribution of Kunbi certificates on PM’s birthday

Of the eight Marathwada districts, the Hingoli administration distributed over 50 Kunbi certificates. The Latur and Beed collectorates issued two each while the Dharashiv administration issued over five certificates in the inaugural function on Wednesday

MUMBAI: Two weeks after the state issued a government resolution (GR) to implement the Hyderabad Gazette and enable Marathas to get Kunbi (Other Backward Class) certificates, the administrations of eight Marathwada districts began distributing the documents as part of the Seva Pandharavada (Service Fortnight) kicked off on PM Narendra Modi’s birthday. Meanwhile, more applications from Marathas have begun pouring in.

State kicks off distribution of Kunbi certificates on PM’s birthday

The state government had planned the service fortnight primarily to clear rural citizens’ applications for revenue department services such as issuing certificates to resolve land disputes and regularise housing encroachments among other things. The Marathwada districts, where the Kunbi certificate issue is the most relevant, have also included the issuance of these during the 15-day drive.

Of the eight Marathwada districts, the Hingoli administration distributed over 50 Kunbi certificates. The Latur and Beed collectorates issued two each while the Dharashiv administration issued over five certificates in the inaugural function on Wednesday. The guardian ministers of these districts, who attended the Marathwada Liberation Day function and rolled out the 15-day drive, handed over the certificates to Maratha applicants.

Hingoli collector Rahul Gupta said that the 50 Kunbi certificates distributed were earlier ones. “They were issued on the applications based on records collated by the revenue machinery after the Justice Shinde committee was constituted,” he said. “After the Hyderabad Gazette implementation GR was issued two weeks ago, we have received around 25 applications. We held awareness camps on how to file the applications and we will try to dispose of them by following due process within the service fortnight.”

The GR issued by the state government on September 2 during the indefinite hunger strike of Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil enables Marathas to get Kunbi certificates on the basis of the Hyderabad Gazettes published in 1918. Maratha organisations and Jarange-Patil have claimed that the Gazettes have records of the Kunbi lineage of Marathas dating back to pre-1920. The Hyderabad Gazette covers the eight districts of Marathwada that were under the rule of the Nizam until the 1950s.

The Sandeep Shinde Committee appointed two years ago had helped the state government collate over 5.8 million Kunbi lineage documents, on the basis of which the state issued over one million Kunbi certificates to Marathas. Over 2,25,000 of these were issued in Marathwada.

Meanwhile, Jarange-Patil, while demanding that the government expedite the process of issuing Kunbi certificates, announced a victory rally of Marathas in Delhi. “The date will be announced soon,” he said on Wednesday. “Marathas from Maharashtra will be there in large numbers and Marathas from Haryana, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh will also participate. This is to celebrate the implementation of the Hyderabad and Satara Gazettes.”