OBC Minister Takes Firm Stand as Cabinet Sub-Committee Strongly Opposes Blanket Issuance of Kunbi Certificates

The cabinet sub-committee has opposed the move to give birth certificates to Maratha citizens in a blanket manner, thereby trampling on the rights of OBCs. Objections were also raised as OBCs receive less funding than the Maratha community. The meeting of the newly formed Cabinet Sub-Committee on OBCs was held at the Ministry under the chairmanship of Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule, who heads the committee.

In this meeting, the stance was taken that there should be no sharing of the OBC reservation quota. Following this, the sub-committee firmly expressed that a white paper should be released after verifying all Kunbi certificates issued so far, according to senior BJP minister Pankaja Munde.

She clearly stated that the Maratha community is not politically backward and that fake certificates should not be used to infringe upon the political rights of the OBCs.

Minister Chhagan Bhujbal objected to the fact that OBCs were receiving less funds than the Maratha community, demanding the cancellation of the government decision regarding the Hyderabad Gazette. Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the chairman of the Maratha Reservation Sub-Committee and Water Resources Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil had directed that the decision issued regarding the Hyderabad Gazette should be implemented immediately.

In this meeting, Bhujbal raised several objections to the wording of the government decision regarding the Hyderabad Gazette and demanded its cancellation, warning that if it was not done, he would move the High Court.  Bhujbal complained that the Maratha community has received a lot of funds in the last two-three years, while there are 350 castes among OBCs, but in comparison, they have received insufficient funds in the last 20 years. Therefore, this subcommittee will focus on the distribution of funds to OBCs.

Laman and Banjara should also be given Scheduled Tribe certificates. The Hyderabad Gazette has been accepted by the government and it also contains entries about Laman and Banjara and they are demanding that they be given Scheduled Tribe (ST) certificates. We support their demand. We cannot give one justice to one and another to another. Decisions should be made within the framework of the Constitution and as per the rules. Therefore, senior leaders will take a decision in this regard, said Pankaja Munde.

Only those with Kunbi records will get certificates

Only those with Kunbi records will get certificates as per the government decision, and for this, a report from the Kunbi relationship, village committee, and tehsildar-level committee will have to be submitted. After the genealogy is verified, the certificate will be issued only after all the documents are completed. Chandrashekhar Bawankule mentioned that the sub-divisional officers need to take care that there are no false entries and they should implement it as per the government decision.

OBC funds pending

It was informed in the meeting that OBCs are pending to receive funds worth about INR 3,688 crore. Therefore, scholarships worth INR 1,200 crore have not been provided. All the ministers expressed the hope that the issue of funding should be resolved.

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Demands from the meeting

– 100 percent scholarship should be given to OBC students for professional courses.

– Scholarships should be given to 200 students instead of 75 for higher education abroad

– Reservation should be implemented for OBCs in the Gharkul scheme of MHADA and CIDCO

– Well-equipped library for OBC, VJNT, SBC students at every city and taluka level

– Provision of INR 1,000 crore for OBC Economic Development Corporation