Jarange, Antarwali-Saraati may not get quota benefit as no Kunbi records found

“No Kunbi records of anyone from Antarwali-Saraati village have been found during our search. In the entire Ambad taluka, of the 138 villages, Kunbi records have been found only in 12 villages and that too of only 127,” Chandrakant Shelke, tehsildar of Ambad taluka (Jalna district) told The Indian Express Tuesday.

Reacting to the development, Jarange-Patil said he was not worried that he and his family will not get the benefit of reservation. “I am selfless person… My community is important for me. Children of Maratha community should get the benefit of reservation,” he said.
According to the officials of the district administration, in the four villages in Jalna where Jarange-Patil held his fast in the last two-three years, none of them has Kunbi records.

Officials said that Kunbi records were not found from even Matera, the native village of Jarange-Patil in Beed district. “If there are no Kunbi records, then those families will not get reservation. Jarange-Patil is likely to miss the bus,” officials said.

Vinod Patil, coordinator of Maratha Kranti Morcha, the organisation which has been in the forefront of Maratha reservation, said, “In case Kunbi records are not found, then that person or his family will not get the benefit of reservation.”

Officials said if Kunbi caste records are found, that family automatically makes it to OBC category as Kunbis (farmers) fall in OBC category which has as many as 374 castes in all.

The Ambad tehsildar said, “We are looking for proofs pertaining to the period before 1967. We are going through as many as 12 documents like old 7 X 12 land extract census register, old documents of police patils and other land records. If these documents carry the word Kunbi, then such persons are eligible to get Kunbi caste certificate. In Ambad taluka, we have so far verified 2,88,000 documents. If the great-grandfather in a family has Kunbi word written on his records, then his entire family can get the Kunbi caste certificate.”

Jarange-Patil had staged his fast-unto-death from August 29 in Antarwali-Saraati in Jalna district, demanding reservation for Maratha community.

On September 1, the fast turned violent as more than 100 villagers and 70 police personnel were injured following a police lathi-charge.
On September 30, the Maharashtra Government had said it would provide Kunbi caste certifictes to those Marathas from Marathwada who possess Nizam-era genealogical documents which give them the status of Kunbis.

The government has since maintained its stand and rejected the demand for blanket reservation for Marathas. However, Jarange-Patil has been insisting that all Marathas should be given Kunbis caste certificates “as Kunbis and Marathas are one and the same”.

The state government had set up two committees to look into the matter. First, on September 7 at the height of the activist’s fast-unto-death, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced the setting up of Justice (retd.) Sandeep Shinde Committee set up to expedite the process of giving reservation to Maratha community. The committee last month submitted its second and final report to the Chief Minister.
The committee was set up to work on the methodology to issue Kunbi caste certificates to Maratha community.

The committee was tasked to find Nizam-era proofs showing Marathas as Kunbis in Marathwada.

In October, the Shinde-Fadnavis government again formed a three-member panel of judges to advise it as Jarange-Patil insisted that the community was firm on its demand for blanket reservation.