"Marathwada Marathas Must Be Declared Kunbis": Activist Jarange Patil

Activist Manoj Jarange on Saturday told a delegation led by retired High Court judge Sandeep Shinde that the government must declare all Marathas of Marathwada as Kunbis and give them a reservation.

The delegation met Mr Jarange at Azad Maidan in South Mumbai this afternoon. He has been on an indefinite hunger strike since Friday, seeking quotas in government jobs and education for the Maratha community.

Mr Jarange said the committee under retired judge Shinde had studied gazettes related to the issue for the past 13 months, and now it was time for the panel to submit its report to pave the way for Marathas to get Kunbi status.

Mr Jarange has been seeking a 10 per cent quota for Marathas under the Other Backward Class (OBC) category. He has demanded that Marathas be recognised as Kunbis - an agrarian caste included in the OBC category - which will make them eligible for reservation in government jobs and education.

"Marathas in Marathwada must be declared as Kunbis and given a reservation. The Hyderabad and Satara gazettes must be made into law for this," Mr Jarange said.

In response, retired judge Shinde said he wasn't authorized to give such a report.

It was the job of the backward class commission, Shinde said.

"Caste certificate is given to individuals and not the entire community," he added.

The entire conversation between Shinde and Mr Jarange was beamed live on Marathi news channels.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Mr Jarange slammed Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for deputing retired judge Shinde to hold talks with him.

"It is not Justice Shinde's job to issue a GR (government resolution) declaring Marathas and Kunbis as the same. It is an insult to the government, Raj Bhavan, and the state to send Justice Shinde here," he said.

Shinde told reporters the cabinet had given in principle approval to the Hyderabad Gazette.

"I will go back to the cabinet sub-committee with details of my discussion with Jarange," he added.

Justice (retd) Sandeep Shinde heads the committee formed in September 2023 by the then Eknath Shinde government to decide the methodology for issuing `Kunbi' caste certificates to members of the Maratha community.

The committee was asked to study the records of the former Hyderabad and Bombay states, where Marathas are sometimes mentioned as Kunbis. Initially appointed for the region of Marathwada, its scope was later extended to cover the entire state.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)