‘Fight not over’ say Marathas as they hail govt decision to expand Kunbi OBC status
Advocate Sachin Godambe pointed out that the Maharashtra government has not addressed the question of extending Maratha quota benefits to those who do not have Kunbi records.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde offers juice to Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange Patil to break the latter's fast after the state government accepted Patil's demands, in Navi Mumbai, Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024. (PTI Photo)
Even as the Maratha community in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad has hailed the Maharashtra government’s decision to expand the scope for offering Kunbi OBC (Other Backward Class) certification to its people, community leaders believe that the “fight is still not over”.
On Saturday, the Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis government, bowing to pressure from activist Manoj Jarange Patiland the Maratha community, issued a gazette notification with a draft of rules that aim to ease and expand the scope for offering Kunbi OBC certification to the community. This will allow them to apply for government jobs and seats in educational institutions under the OBC category which is entitled to 27 per cent reservation in Maharashtra.
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Shrimant Kokate, a noted author from the community, said, “After a hard-fought battle by the Maratha community, the state government has finally relented and decided to include Marathas in the OBC category.”
Kokate, however, said a clear picture will emerge only after suggestions and objections are received. “The government has issued a gazette notification which contains a draft of rules aimed at including Marathas in the OBC category by issuing them Kunbi certifications. It has invited suggestions and objections till February 16. After this, we will come to know what happens,” he said.
The author said those who are Kunbi and have their records will get Kunbi caste certificates. “But those who do not have Kunbi certificates, what will be their fate? This question remains unanswered.”
“Marathas are originally Kunbis. Maratha is not a caste. It is a group of castes. This is as per Indology, history and linguistic science. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Sant Tukaram and Mahatma Phule have also spoken about Kunbis who are basically farmers. Records of several Kunbi individuals are being found. But those whose records mention Maratha and not Kunbi remain in an uncertain zone. What solution does the government have for them,” Kokate asked.
Advocate Sachin Godambe said, “I welcome the government move, but I think only those who have Kunbi records will get the benefit of reservation. Those whose records have not been found will not get the benefit. The government has not addressed this problem. Also, the government has claimed that it has issued a resolution in this regard but there is no such resolution. It has issued a gazette notification and invited suggestions and objections for including Maratha Kunbis in the OBC category. I think we will come to know everything next month.”
Activist Lahu Landge, who is associated with the Sambhaji Brigade, said, “The decision is good and shows what united effort can do. But I think the fight is still not over. The matter will be challenged in the Supreme Court. Till the Supreme Court gives its stamp of approval to the whole issue, we will continue to have doubts about whether we will get reservation.”
Maruti Bhapkar, coordinator of the Maratha Kranti Morcha, said, “The government has conceded to the demand to issue Kunbi caste certificates to “sage soyre” or relatives from a family tree. Those whose Kunbi records have been found should be issued Kunbi caste certificates.”
Dhananjay Yelkar, another coordinator of the Maratha Kranti Morcha, said, “The government’s decision to issue Kunbi caste certificate to ‘sage soyre’ is welcome. However, the main demand of the Maratha community is to include all Marathas in the OBC category. That demand still remains unaddressed. If the government misleads the people, it will have to bear the consequences.”
Manoj More has been working with the Indian Express since 1992. For the first 16 years, he worked on the desk, edited stories, made pages, wrote special stories and handled The Indian Express edition. In 31 years of his career, he has regularly written stories on a range of topics, primarily on civic issues like state of roads, choked drains, garbage problems, inadequate transport facilities and the like. He has also written aggressively on local gondaism. He has primarily written civic stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad, Khadki, Maval and some parts of Pune. He has also covered stories from Kolhapur, Satara, Solapur, Sangli, Ahmednagar and Latur. He has had maximum impact stories from Pimpri-Chinchwad industrial city which he has covered extensively for the last three decades.
Manoj More has written over 20,000 stories. 10,000 of which are byline stories. Most of the stories pertain to civic issues and political ones. The biggest achievement of his career is getting a nearly two kilometre road done on Pune-Mumbai highway in Khadki in 2006. He wrote stories on the state of roads since 1997. In 10 years, nearly 200 two-wheeler riders had died in accidents due to the pathetic state of the road. The local cantonment board could not get the road redone as it lacked funds. The then PMC commissioner Pravin Pardeshi took the initiative, went out of his way and made the Khadki road by spending Rs 23 crore from JNNURM Funds. In the next 10 years after the road was made by the PMC, less than 10 citizens had died, effectively saving more than 100 lives.
Manoj More's campaign against tree cutting on Pune-Mumbai highway in 1999 and Pune-Nashik highway in 2004 saved 2000 trees.
During Covid, over 50 doctors were asked to pay Rs 30 lakh each for getting a job with PCMC. The PCMC administration alerted Manoj More who did a story on the subject, asking then corporators how much money they demanded....The story worked as doctors got the job without paying a single paisa.
Manoj More has also covered the "Latur drought" situation in 2015 when a "Latur water train" created quite a buzz in Maharashtra. He also covered the Malin tragedy where over 150 villagers had died.
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