The administration in Thane district has set up a special cell as per the directions of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to verify caste records for issuing Kunbi caste certificates to eligible persons from the Maratha community, an official said on Sunday.

District Collector Ashok Shingare will monitor the work of the cell, which was set up on Saturday, and report the progress to the state authorities, a release stated.

The cell has been set up on the lines of the one in the Marathwada region and will verify the caste records based on which Kunbi caste certificates can be issued to eligible Marathas, it said.

Additional collector Manisha Jaibhaye-Dhule, SDOs and tehsildars are also working on war footing to complete the task in the district, the release said.

The chief minister had on Thursday said every district collector will be asked to deploy 10 officials from the collectorate staff to find old records based on which Kunbi caste certificates can be given to eligible Marathas.

Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange, who ended his indefinite fast after nine days on Thursday, had demanded that members of the community be given Kunbi caste certificates.

The Kunbi community already gets quota benefits in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category.

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