Maratha Reservation: know why Chhagan Bhujbal made this demand?
Maharashtra government minister Chhagan Bhujbal said on monday that the committee headed by Justice
(retd) sandeep Shinde formed on the issue of maratha reservation demand should be dissolved as its work has
been completed. Bhujbal said he was not against separate reservation for Marathas, but was against “the
method of obtaining Kunbi (caste) certificate by submitting fake or forged documents”. The state government
had formed a five-member committee under the chairmanship of Justice Shinde to decide the special operating
procedure (SOP) for granting Kunbi certificates to those people of the maratha community, who have been
described as Kunbi in the Nizam era documents.
What is the issue of Kunbi certificate?
Kunbi (a farming community) has been placed in the Other Backward Class (OBC) category in Maharashtra.
Under the leadership of activist Manoj Jarange, the maratha community is demanding to give Kunbi
certificates to Marathas. Bhujbal said that while giving reservation to Marathas, the existing reservation for
OBCs should not be reduced. Bhujbal told reporters on monday that chief minister Eknath Shinde had
formed a committee to find out the Kunbi affiliation with the Nizam rule in the pre-independence period. He
said, “I have no objection to this process. I am against people from other areas of the state who are making
false claims to get Kunbi certificates so that they can avail the existing benefits of reservation in education and
government jobs.