Authorities in Dharashiv begin distribution of Kunbi caste certificates

Amid a fresh wave of protests in Maharashtra over the Maratha quota demand authorities in Dharashiv district of the state on Wednesday started distributing Kunbi caste certificates to the eligible Maratha community members paving the way for their inclusion in the OBC categoryThe first such certificate was handed over to Sumit Mane from Kari village in the district based on the proof an official saidDistrict collector Sachin Ombase handed over the Kunbi caste certificate to ManeThe development comes a day after the state government 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 Other Backward Classes OBC categoryThe Maharashtra cabinet had last month decided that Kunbi caste certificates will be issued to those Marathas hailing from Marathwada region who possess revenue or education documents from the Nizam era that recognise them as KunbisThe government resolution GR issued on Tuesday asked the officials to translate old documents having references to Kunbis and written in Urdu and Modi script which was used to write Marathi language in earlier timesKunbis a community associated with agriculture are grouped under the OBC category in Maharashtra and enjoy reservation benefits in education and government jobsTalking to reporters after giving away the Kunbi caste certificate to Mane Dharashiv collector Ombase said The committee formed over the Kunbi issue visited every district of Marathwada and tried to find proofs from pre1967 periodIn Dharashiv alone 40 lakh records were examined A total of 459 Kunbi records were found of which 110 are from Kari village he saidAs per the governments decision the process of issuing Kunbi certificates has been initiated in our district As per the records we issued the first Kunbi caste certificate today We are going to identify the remaining beneficiaries and give certificates to them Ombase saidWe are willing to issue these certificates in the next 810 days to the applicants A team of the revenue department will approach the applicants and issue the certificates to them he saidThe records that are found are uploaded as certified copies on our district administration website he addedThe remaining documents will be uploaded in the next couple of days People should apply online with appropriate documents address proof and family tree the official saidMaratha quota activist Manoj Jarange has been observing an indefinite fast for the quota demand at Antarwali Sarati village in Jalna district Speaking on Wednesday from the protest site Jarange asked the government to stop the process of issuing Kunbi certificates to the Maratha members saying he wants reservation for the entire Maratha communityA day earlier he said the Maratha community will not accept an incomplete reservation and the Maharashtra government should call a special session of the state legislature on the issueThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever