Maharashtra cabinet accepts panel report on SOP for granting Kunbi-Maratha certificates

Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde. File Pic

The Maharashtra cabinet on Monday accepted the second and third reports of the Justice Shinde committee, set up to finalise the protocol for issuing Kunbi-Maratha and Maratha-Kunbi certificates based on historical records, reported news agency PTI.

Kunbi (an agrarian community) is classified under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) segment in Maharashtra.

With the assembly polls looming, the cabinet chaired by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde cleared 38 proposals, some of them related to strengthening road and metro rail infrastructure in Mumbai and surrounding areas, reported PTI.

The Justice Sandeep Shinde (retd) committee had submitted its second report last December, which was not officially accepted by the state government.

The acceptance of the Shinde panel report by the state cabinet on Monday is seen as a significant move to placate the Maratha community protesting for inclusion in the OBC category, amid a backlash by backward communities, reported PTI.

The state cabinet also approved a revised proposal of Rs 12,200 crore for the Thane Ring Metro project and green-lighted a proposal to raise Rs 15,000 crore through loans for the Thane-Borivali tunnel route, the government stated, reported PTI.

The state government has been holding a string of Cabinet meetings, anticipating the announcement of the election schedule and the code of conduct.

In the previous meeting of the council of ministers held on September 23, the government cleared a proposal to include three Kunbi sub-castes in the Other Backward Classes segment, reported PTI.

A total of 24 decisions were taken in the previous cabinet meeting including the continuation of a subsidy of Rs 7 per litrr for cow milk producers, officials had said.

Maratha quota: Jarange plans show of unity at Dussehra rally in Beed

Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange on Monday appealed to the people, including the poor and needy, to converge in a show of unity at the Dussehra rally to be held at Narayangad in Maharashtra's Beed district, reported PTI.

Dussehra will be celebrated on October 12 this year.

Jarange also said he will speak at the rally, which would be attended by the Maratha community people and farmers, but there will no politics at the event.

He was speaking to reporters at a private hospital in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar where he is currently undergoing treatment after ending his fast over the demand for OBC quota for the Maratha community, reported PTI.

Jarange sat on a hunger strike on September 17, his sixth in a year, to demand reservation to the Maratha community under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category, reported PTI.

He called it off on September 25, citing pleas from members of the Maratha community to withdraw his protest, reported PTI.

In February this year, the Maharashtra legislature unanimously passed a bill providing 10 per cent reservation for the Marathas in education and government jobs under a separate category. Jarange, however, stuck to his demand for a quota for the community under the OBC head.

(With inputs from PTI)