Remove genealogy record norms, give Kunbi certificate to all Marathas: Manoj Jarange Patil to Maharashtra

“We have not received the copy of the GR yet but we have learnt that there is a condition in it that (the government) will give us Kunbi caste certificate after we show genealogical records. We welcome the decision taken by the chief minister and deputy chief ministers but it is of no use to us,” Patil said, adding that the GR needs to be corrected.

“The condition of genealogy documents should be relaxed because none of us have any. If we had it (documents) recognising us as Kunbis, there was no need for this GR. I have only one request to the government; it is not that we are rejecting the GR but we are only requesting to remove the genealogy record norms from the GR and give Kunbi reservation to all Marathas of Maharashtra indiscriminately,” Patil said.

“We are really thankful the government took the decision which none of the past governments took in 70 years. Just make these corrections in the GR and we will call off the strike,” Patil said at Antarwali Sarathi village in Jalna, where he has been on a hunger strike since August 29.

“Our delegation will go to Mumbai to discuss the issue. We don’t have any genealogical documents and hence we have requested that the two words mentioning genealogy should be removed from GR. The government can take a day or two to change that. Once it is done we will call off hunger strike,” Patil said.

His reaction came a day after Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced on Wednesday that the state government had decided to provide Kunbi caste certificates to all Marathas from Marathwada who possess Nizam-era revenue or educational documents that recognised them as Kunbis and that a GR on the same would be issued.

The Marathwada region was part of the erstwhile Nizam-ruled Hyderabad kingdom before it became a part of Maharashtra. The state’s Kunbi community is associated with agriculture-related occupations and is grouped under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category. Giving Marathas a Kunbi caste certificate would mean that they would be counted as OBCs and get reservation benefits that OBCs get in the state.

On September 1, the police lathicharged protesters demanding Maratha reservation in Jalna’s Ambad tehsil, sparking outrage across the state. While Opposition leaders rushed to the protest site and accused the government of using unnecessary force, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, who is in charge of the state Home department and faced calls of resignation, issued an apology on behalf of the government on Monday.

On Thursday afternoon, the Maharashtra government issued the GR on Maratha reservation, which stated that the government has decided to provide Kunbi caste certificates to all Marathas from Marathwada who possess Nizam-era revenue records, educational records and other supporting records and if “Kunbi” is mentioned in their genealogy.

The GR stated that those submitting such documents will be provided Maratha-Kunbi caste certificates after thorough scrutiny.

As soon as the GR was issued on Thursday afternoon, Shinde-led Sena leader Arjun Khotkar met Patil in Jalna with the copy of the GR and Shinde’s letter requesting him to call off his hunger strike.

Patil, however, had expressed his concerns over genealogy records to Khotkar and sought corrections in the GR. Khotkar then invited a delegation of Patil to Mumbai to discuss the issue.