Ad-hoc blanket issuance of Kunbi status to all Marathas not acceptable: Maharashtra minister Bawankule

The issue of government resolution for Hyderabad Gazetter to facilitate Marathas from Marathwada region access their documents to establish their Kunbi status and avail OBC quota has led to massive unrest within the OBC communities and its leaders across party lines.

To address their apprehensions, the state government set up a cabinet sub committee for OBC.

On Wednesday, the cabinet sub-committee, chaired by Bawankule, held a meeting in the Mantralaya to address issues and demands concerning Other Backward Classes (OBC). The meeting focused on apprehensions over Hyderabad Gazette, along with welfare and policy matters for the OBC community.

Among the leaders who attended the meeting were ministers Chhagan Bhujbal, Ganesh Naik, Gulabrao Patil, Sanjay Rathod, Atul Save, and Dattatray Bharne, alongside secretaries from the Backward Classes Welfare Department and other officials.

Highly placed sources revealed, “NCP minister Chhagan Bhujbal voiced his concerns over blanket issuance of Kunbi certificates to all Marathas. Will the three-member team deployed at village level to scrutinise documents or ascertain affidavit be able to do its job freely and fairly? Will it be subjected to political pressure to issue certificates to all Marathas? What are the mechanisms to monitor? These were some of the issues raised by the NCP minister.”

Bhujbal raised objections to two resolutions on Maratha reservation. However, he was informed that only final resolution will be enforced.
Several OBC leaders at the meeting indicated that if large number of Marathas are given Kunbi status, it would upset the present OBC quota composition. The OBCs with 350 communities is already overcrowded.

BJP minister Pankaja Munde said, “The Maratha community is nor socially backward. Yet, if they are seeking reservation, utmost care should be taken during scrutiny to verify their Kunbi status.”

Speaking to the media after the OBC sub-committee meeting, Bawankule said, “The OBC rights will be safeguarded. We will not allow any injustice against OBCs.”

While OBC sub-committee has no problem with government resolution on Hyderabad Gazette, Bawankule said, “We have made it clear that Kunbi certificate should be issued to eligible Maratha individuals only. There shouldn’t be a single case where a Kunbi certificate is given to a Maratha who is not eligible.”

“To ensure this, the tehsildars, the gram samitis at the village level which are part of the scrutiny committee should exercise extra caution. Those who can furnish documents using Hyderabad Gazette should get Kunbi status. In case of those who file affidavit in absence of documents in Hyderabad gazettes should be asked to furnish Kunbi status of their relatives,” said the revenue minister.

Apart from issues of Maratha quota and Kunbi status, the OBC sub-committee also dwelt at length on welfare schemes for the OBCs. “In the December session, a corpus of Rs 3800 crore was sanctioned for the OBC Mantralaya. We have urged the finance department to expedite the fund release,” said Bawankule.

There were other issues related to OBC student hotels , library and administrative buildings. The sub-committee has directed the concerned departments to expedite all these projects.

On the lines of Annabhau Sathe Arthik Mahamamdal, we are looking at similar setup to promote OBC entrepreneurship, said Bawankule.
“During Bhujbal’s tenture as OBC sub-committee head, several decisions were taken. We have asked for a action taken report,” Bawankule said.

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