MUMBAI: The NCP minister and Samata Parshad president Chhagan Bhujbal on Tuesday wrote to Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis objecting to certain "ambiguous and vague wording and terms" used in state (Government Resolution) GR for issuance of Kunbi-OBC certificates to Maratha community as whole and demanded immediate withdrawal/ cancellations of this said GR and its review as well.
Bhujbal in his eight- page letter sought clarity and even warned that if the concerns raised through his letter are not addressed, it would lead to a potentially volatile situation in Maharashtra.
He said that the said GR for Maratha reservation was issued in haste and under tremendous pressure from one powerful community. He also noted that it was not placed before the Cabinet and protests and pleas for objections and suggestions raised by the members that constitute the Other Backward Classes in the State were not considered.
Bhujbal also objected to the use of the term "Maratha Community" instead of OBC or Kunbi, Maratha Kunbi, Kunbi Maratha. He said, the Kunbi and Maratha are two different castes and that are also recognized by the Government of Maharashtra.
The Kunbi caste is notified as OBC while Maratha community as Socially and Educationally Backward Community (SEBC), he noted.
In fact, there is separate SEBC reservation for Marathas given in SEBC Act 2024, passed by the Maharashtra Assembly.
The government provides a separate 10% reservation for Maratha under SEBC in State education and employment.
Therefore, using the term Maratha Community in the Act of OBC, SC and ST and to facilitate more persons and that community to obtain OBC certificates is "unlawful." It allows two types of reservations for the Maratha community, he added.
He objected to words such as 'kul' which is not a defined term, and may refer to a family, communal or geographic extension, as used in the GR.
Besides, GR has also used the term ' in relation’ and not relative as used earlier. The relative means a blood relative from paternal side of the applicant as per the genealogy. The term in relation' is a completely vague term and may include any kind of relationship, paternal, maternal, or even adopted.
The GR therefore clearly transcends the boundaries of the Rules framed after following the procedure under the Act. The remote relation of a person may possibly extend to hundreds of persons in Maharashtra, whose affidavit will form the basis of issuance of caste certificate,” Bhujbal said.
