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The government of Maharashtra on Tuesday (September 2) accepted Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange Patil’s demand for implementation of the “Hyderabad Gazette”, taking a big step forward in ending the stalemate with protesters demanding the extension of OBC quota benefits to the Maratha community.
Before India’s Independence, the Marathwada region, comprising eight drought-prone districts of today’s Maharashtra, was part of the realm of the Nizam of Hyderabad.
The Hyderabad Gazette refers to an order issued in 1918 by the then Nizam of Hyderabad. All records of the region, relating to its population, castes and communities, occupations, agriculture, etc., were part of the Hyderabad Gazette.
Based on the Hyderabad Gazette, the Maratha community in Marathwada can now establish their Kunbi status, and avail of reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs). The Kunbis, a peasant caste, are included in the OBC list in Maharashtra. (More on this later.)
Like the Hyderabad Gazette, there are historical records of other regions as well. The Satara Gazette has records related to Marathas in parts of Western Maharashtra. There are the Aundh and Bombay Gazettes as well.
The records suggest that the Marathas, who were engaged in agriculture, were a sizable community in Marathwada, but were considered backward economically and socially. They also suggest that the Maratha community was considered the same as the Kunbi community.
The Nizam’s government issued an order granting the Maratha community reservation in education and government jobs. This decision was formally recorded in the official gazette.
Also, an earlier document from 1884 does not mention ‘Maratha’, but refers to ‘Kunbi’, suggesting that Marathas were classified as Kunbis at the time. After Independence, Marathwada became part of the state of Maharashtra, and the community came to be addressed as Maratha.
Jarange Patil has been arguing that the 1884 document should be considered in tracing the authentic genealogy of Marathas.
Taking the Hyderabad Gazette as the authentic record, the government has now agreed to extend Kunbi status – and by extension, the benefit of OBC reservation – to Marathas in Marathwada.
What about Marathas in other parts of Maharashtra?
The Devendra Fadnavis government has always held that any decision with regard to the Maratha quota should withstand constitutional and legal scrutiny.
As such, the government has been cautious not to agree to Jarange Patil’s demand for a blanket issuance of Kunbi certificates to Marathas across Maharashtra based on documentary evidence.
Instead, the government has agreed to the proposal only with regard to the Hyderabad Gazette – which means that only documentary proof based on past Nizam records will suffice for Kunbi status.
Marathas from the Vidarbha region comprising 11 districts are already listed as Kunbis. Some members of the community in North Maharashtra and Konkan have also enrolled themselves as Kunbis in order to qualify for the OBC quota.
Many Marathas in Western Maharashtra and Marathwada, however, chose to retain their identity as a warrior class and a forward caste.
Does the government’s decision mean that the long quota agitation is now close to resolution?
Any individual Maratha who furnishes a Kunbi certificate is eligible for OBC reservation.
The Hyderabad Gazette has now been accepted as a valid document that helps Marathas to establish their Kunbi credentials. With adequate proof of Kunbi status, eligible Marathas will now be automatically entitled to seek the benefits of the OBC quota.
Jarange Patil, who has been protesting at Mumbai’s Azad Maidan since August 29, indicated on Tuesday that he was ready to withdraw the stir after a delegation of Maharashtra Ministers, mostly from the Maratha community, met him at the protest site.
Jarange Patil said, “Our demands were already presented to the government in written form. Our first demand was the immediate implementation of the Hyderabad Gazette.”
The Cabinet sub-committee has given an assurance that if the protesters agree to the proposal, the government will issue a Government Resolution (GR) to accord Kunbi status to Marathas from the Marathwada region.
The government has proposed an action plan under which individuals from the Maratha community in a village will be issued Kunbi caste certificates after verification, if their relatives, clan members, or people from the same village have already been issued such certificates, Jarange Patil told his supporters after meeting with the Ministers.
