Maharashtra CM Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
Credit: PTI Photo
Mumbai: In an important development on the vexed reservation issue involving Marathas and Other Backward Classes, the BJP-led Maha Yuti government on Monday accepted the report of Justice Shinde Committee to find out record entries of Maratha-Kunbi and Kunbi-Maratha and to formulate procedure to issue certificates.
The decision to accept the three-part report comes ahead of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly elections.
Kunbi is a sub-caste of the Marathas and covered under the OBCs.
The content of the three reports submitted by the one-man Committee of Justice Sandeep Shinde (Retd) is, however, not yet known.
While the first report was accepted in 2023, the second and third report were accepted together at a Cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and attended by Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar and their ministerial colleagues.
“Taking note of its observations and recommendations, it was directed to take action accordingly…in this report, 14 recommendations were submitted to the government. Various departments were instructed in the meeting to act on these recommendations,” a brief note from the Chief Minister’s Office said.
“It is good that the report has been submitted…now the government has to act on it,” said Manoj Jarange-Patil, who is undergoing treatment at Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar.
On September 7, 2023, the Maharashtra government set up a committee of Justice Sandeep Shinde (Retd) to find out record entries of Maratha Kunbi and Kunbi Maratha and to formulate a procedure to issue certificates, which would enable them to avail reservation under OBC category.
The first report of the Shinde Committee was submitted on October 7, 2023, which was accepted by the government on October 31, 2023.
On December 18, 2023, the Shinde Committee submitted its second report, which was pending before the government.
Now, the second and third report has been accepted by the government together.
Jarange-Patil, who has been demanding that the government declare all Marathas as Kunbis and give reservation as OBCs.
During the course of one year, the Shinde Committee scrutinised records of several lakh pages, visited Hyderabad to obtain Nizam-era records and also checked the archaeological records in Maharashtra.
“There are records which are available in Bombay Gazette and Satara Sansthan and Hyderabad,” he said, adding that for the welfare of the community it is essential to declare Marathas as
Kunbis so that they can avail reservation as OBC.
“We really don't know what the Committee has said…The Committee has done a lot of work…we hope that the best has been done and what we have been asking for,” he said.
Over the last two years, the State government has opened two routes for Maratha reservation - as Maratha-Kunbi and Kunbi-Maratha under OBCs the the Maharashtra State Reservation for Socially and Educationally Backward Bill, 2024, was passed in the state legislature, paving the way for 10 per cent reservation.
However, Jarange-Patil is insisting on implementation of draft notification of ‘sage-soyare’, a Marathi term for ‘relatives from the family tree', which widens the scope of the quota and withdrawal of cases against the agitators.