Maharashtra cabinet minister Chhagan Bhujbal on Monday said the committee headed by retired Justice Sandeep Shinde, formed in connection with the issue of Maratha quota demand, should be discontinued as its work is over.

Bhujbal also said he was not against a separate reservation for Marathas, but was opposed to the "ongoing practice of obtaining Kunbi (caste) certificates by submitting fake or forged documents." The state government had set up the five-member panel headed by Justice Shinde to decide the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for giving Kunbi certificates to members of the Maratha community who (or whose ancestors) were referred to as Kunbis in Nizam-era documents.

Kunbis (the community associated with agriculture) are grouped under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category in Maharashtra.

The Maratha community, led by activist Manoj Jarange, has been demanding the issuance of Kunbi certificates to Marathas, enabling them to get inclusion in the OBC category for reservation in government jobs and education.

Bhujbal has said the existing reservation for the OBCs should not be curtailed while giving reservation to Marathas.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Bhujbal said Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had set up the committee to find out Kunbi lineage from the Nizam regime in the pre-independence period.

"I have no issues with this process. I am opposed to people from other regions of the state who are making fake claims to obtain Kunbi certificates so that they can enjoy the existing benefits of reservation in education and government jobs,” he said.

“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 the minister, who is a prominent OBC leader.

Bhujbal made the similar demand on Sunday at a public rally in Hingoli district.

“Our (OBC) leader Prakash Shendge has shown some 7-8 documents to the chief minister where old certificates were tampered with a pen. Such fake claims should not be entertained and Kunbi certificates should not be given to people on the basis of such forged documents," he said.

One can draw a conclusion from such examples that how serious and rampant such practice would have been on the ground, Bhujbal said.

Asked about he being portrayed as a strong opponent of the Maratha quota demand, Bhujbal said the Supreme Court has already stated that Marathas cannot be categorised as OBC.

"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.

"When the first list of OBCs came out after the Mandal Commission's report was accepted by the Union government, some 200 backward communities were identified. Later more communities were identified as OBCs and the number increased to more than 350. I never opposed such a change,” he said. PTI ND GK

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