Mumbai, Sep 9 (IANS) Maharashtra Minister Chhagan Bhujbal on Tuesday appealed to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to immediately withdraw, review or suitably modify the government resolution on laying down a procedure for the issuance of Kunbi/ Maratha Kunbi/ Kunbi Maratha Caste Certificates so that it does not affect the reservation provided to the OBC category.
Bhujbal, a NCP leader and the founder president of All India Mahatma Phule Samata Parishad, said this is necessary to avoid a chaotic situation in Maharashtra.
After attending the weekly cabinet meeting, the Minister told reporters that he in a representation said that Government Resolution (GR) was issued in haste, under the tremendous pressure of one powerful community and without it being put before the Cabinet, without calling for or considering any objections and suggestions, and without considering the protests and objections of the members that constitute the Other Backward Classes in the State.
He added that the OBC reservation is applicable to more than 350 castes in Maharashtra. He noted that the GR is required to be suitably modified and clarified so that it does not impinge upon the rights of these categories of OBC persons belonging to the State.
According to him, recognising records of the Hyderabad Gazetteer has been done earlier and fully acted upon.
“Therefore, the GR dated September 2 has no purpose for applying the Hyderabad Gazetteer. As stated earlier, this is already achieved,” he remarked.
Minister Bhujbal took objection to the use of the term “Maratha Community” instead of OBC or Kunbi, Maratha Kunbi, Kunbi Maratha.
He stated that the state government has notified Kunbis as OBC and the Maratha community as a Socially and Educationally Backward Community.
In fact, a separate reservation by the SEBC Act, 2024 was passed by the Maharashtra Assembly, providing 10 per cent reservation in State education and employment for the Maratha community, classifying them as socially and educationally backward.
“Therefore, using the term Maratha Community in the Act of OBC, SC and ST and to facilitate more persons from that community to obtain OBC certificates is unlawful as it permits the Maratha community to get the benefit of two types of reservations,” he said.
He pointed out that various pronouncements of the Supreme Court and the High Courts, and the consequent Acts passed by the State Legislature streamlining the qualifications and procedure for obtaining OBC caste certificates, have been ignored.
As far as the Marathas are concerned, the GR makes a departure from the established procedure for caste verification and obtaining caste validity for all castes, he said.
Having two different procedures for the same class, which is OBCs, amounts to arbitrary action and invidious discrimination, which has no nexus to a common object, viz., verification and grant of caste certificate.
Minister Bhujbal argued that the GR cannot stand in the face of existing rules, which occupy the entire territory, legislating the verification and grant of issuance of the caste certificate to a particular community.
“These rules provide the basis in great detail for the issuance of caste certificates and contain forms, formats, and procedures which contain information for the issuance of caste certificates. These rules continue to hold the field as they have not been amended by following any procedure in the 2000 Act,” he said.
“In any case, a caste certificate shall be issued to a caste and not a community, even though it’s only for the issuance of the caste of Kunbi. We respectfully submit that one caste could not have been singled out and given special treatment for facilitating the issuance of caste certificates to them, leaving out other reserved backward categories. Even other castes within OBC categories are discriminated against,” he observed.
–IANS
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