NCP minister asks Shinde to stop giving Kunbi certificates to Marathas
Mumbai: Continuing his tirade against the Maratha quota protests, Maharashtra minister Chhagan Bhujbal on Monday said that he was against blanket reservation to the Maratha community under the OBC category. He demanded that the process of issuing ‘Kunbi’ caste certificates to Marathas should be stopped and the panel set up for studying the demand of ‘Kunbi’ certificate should be scrapped.
Bhujbal has maintained that he was not against reservation to Marathas but their backdoor entry into the OBC category. “The Maratha community can avail a separate reservation. I am not opposed to it. My opposition is against the ongoing practice of obtaining Kunbi certificates by submitting fake or forged documents,” he said.
His statement has come on the backdrop of Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil demanding that his entire community should be given Kunbi certificates under the OBC category.
The Eknath Shinde-led government had appointed a high-level Committee headed by Justice Sandeep Shinde (Retd) to decide the procedure for granting Kunbi caste certificates to the Marathas in the Marathwada region. The Kunbi certificates would enable Marathas to get reservation in jobs and education.
The state government on October 31 published an order asking officials concerned to issue fresh Kunbi caste certificates to eligible Maratha community members, paving the way for them to avail reservation benefits under the OBC category.
“The Shinde committee found sufficient number of proofs in the Marathwada region. Eligible people from Marathwada should get the certificates. Its work is done, now it should be discontinued,” said Bhujbal.
Meanwhile, a Maratha outfit member on Monday sneaked into a government guest house in Pune where Bhujbal was staying and raised slogans. He threatened to ban minister’s movement in the state for opposing the Maratha reservation.
Dhananjay Jadhav, who is a member of the Swarajya Sanghatana, reached near Bhujbal’s car parked at the Circuit House in Bund Garden area and raised slogans. The police personnel present there whisked him away.
Jadhav said his outfit has been requesting Bhujbal not to oppose the Maratha community’s agitation over the quota demand. “We are requesting Bhujbal and if he does not stop his opposition to Maratha community's agitation for quota which is led by Manoj Jarange Patil, we will make his movement in the state difficult,” he said.
