A Government Resolution (GR) was also issued immediately after a meeting was was held between the Maharashtra government representatives and Manoj Jarange
A cabinet sub-committee headed by state minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil visited Jarange at Azad Maidan on Saturday afternoon. Pic/Sameer Abedi
The sub-committee of Maharashtra government has agreed to activist Manoj Jarange's demands regarding the implementation of the Hyderabad Gazetteer, stating that Marathas possessing Kunbi records will be issued caste certificates following a proper verification process.
A cabinet sub-committee headed by state minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil visited Jarange at Azad Maidan on Saturday afternoon.
A Government Resolution (GR) was also issued immediately after a meeting was was held between the government representatives and Manoj Jarange.
The Satara Gazetteer would be implemented within a month, sources said.
Manoj Jarange had been on a hunger strike in Mumbai's Azad Maidan and tens of thousands of his supporters had been camping in Mumbai since last week Friday.
An official notification said that the Marathwada became part of the bilingual Bombay State on November 1, 1956 and became an integral part of Maharashtra from May 1, 1960. During the Nizam’s rule, the administrative system in the Marathwada region was under the control of the Nizam government. There were significant differences between the administrative practices of the British rule and that of the Nizam. In recent times, large-scale protests have taken place in Marathwada regarding reservation. In this context, to trace records of Kunbi, Kunbi-Maratha, and Maratha-Kunbi castes in this region and to provide justice to the people, a committee was established under the chairmanship of Justice Sandeep Shinde (Retired) on September 7, 2023.
It said that the committee was provided with the necessary mechanisms to trace records across all eight districts of Marathwada. The committee examined all types of documents available in various government offices and discovered a significant number of previously untraced Kunbi caste records. The committee conducted district-wise visits and meetings in Marathwada. As necessary, the committee visited the archival and revenue departments in Hyderabad twice and collected more than 7,000 documents for study, considering Hyderabad was the capital of the Nizam state.
"To collect records from the era of the Nizam and the national census, the committee visited the census office and library in Delhi. They also attempted to retrieve documents from the National Archives of India in Delhi. Additionally, private individuals in Marathwada who possessed relevant documents useful for obtaining caste certificates were approached, and efforts were made to collect such documents. Over the past two years, the committee under Justice Sandeep Shinde (Retired) has carried out extensive fieldwork across Maharashtra to find Kunbi records. All the recommendations made in the various reports submitted by the committee have been accepted by the government, and action has been taken accordingly. The government will continue to act on the committee's recommendations in the future," the official notification said.
However, in Marathwada, there is still a significant population of the Kunbi-Maratha community who are repeatedly demanding that the Hyderabad Gazette be accepted as valid proof for caste certification. Justice Sandeep Shinde (Retired) has been instructed to study and submit a report regarding the applicability of the Hyderabad, Satara, and Bombay Gazettes. Accordingly, the committee has been granted an extension till December 31, 2025, it said.
The notification further said that in this regard, the committee has conducted visits to Hyderabad and Delhi and collected information from five districts that were under the Nizam regime (Aurangabad, Parbhani, Nanded, Beed, and Osmanabad). These documents are currently under review. In the Nizam's government, the Kunbi caste was referred to as "Kapu", whose primary occupation was agriculture. The documents and gazetteers from 1921 and 1931 include references to the Kunbi/Kapu community. Previously, under Section 18(1) of the Maharashtra Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, De-Notified Tribes, Nomadic Tribes, Other Backward Classes, and Special Backward Category (Regulation of Issuance and Verification of Caste Certificates) Act, 2000 and Rule 4(2)(ch) of the 2012 Rules, notifications were issued to include various archival records. Based on the recommendations of the Shinde Committee, new rules – Maharashtra Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, De-Notified Tribes, Nomadic Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Special Backward Category (Issuance and Verification of Caste Certificate) (Amendment) Rules, 2024 – were published on 18th July 2024.
As a result, members of the Maratha community have benefited by obtaining certificates under the categories of Kunbi, Kunbi-Maratha, or Maratha-Kunbi.
To further simplify this process, the government has taken the following decision:
As per References No.1 and No.3, rules were created under the Maharashtra Act No. 23 of 2001 for the issuance and verification of caste certificates. Based on the records found in the Hyderabad Gazetteer, the government has decided to form village-level committees to assist in verifying eligibility and providing Kunbi, Maratha-Kunbi, or Kunbi-Maratha caste certificates to eligible persons from the Maratha community.
Committee Members would include-- Village Revenue Officer, Gram Panchayat Officer and Assistant Agriculture Officer.
The notification further said that if the applicant from the Maratha community does not have proof of land ownership, including landless persons, farm labourers, or sharecroppers, they must submit an affidavit stating that they or their ancestors were residing in the respective local area before October 13, 1967. Based on such affidavits and relevant supporting documents, the competent authority shall carry out a local investigation. If, during this inquiry, relatives or villagers of the applicant -- who already possess Kunbi caste certificates -- are willing to give affidavits confirming the applicant’s Kunbi lineage, the local committee shall collect these affidavits. The village-level committee, with assistance from the genealogy (family tree) committee, shall verify the claim.
The competent authority will make a decision regarding the issuance of the Kunbi caste certificate to the applicant, it said.
- Inputs from Sanjeev Shivdekar
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