In the midst of the state’s continuous campaign for Maratha reservation, government and private schools have been instructed to compile the necessary academic records for Maratha-Kunbi caste certificates.
On November 8, the local government issued an order to the schools to review old register data dating back to 1948 and turn in the information “within two days.” Teachers objected to being pushed to complete additional non-academic tasks with such a tight timeline.
Vijay Kombe from Wardha, who is state head of the Maharashtra Rajya Prathamik Shikshak Samiti, which has written a letter to the state, said, “Realising the importance of the work, we are not denying the task. But the state has asked us to submit the data within two days, which is next to impossible. Going through historic records of admission registers in school is a herculean task and schools will require time for it.”
The school heads have been sent Google links to fill data. The schools have to provide students’ name along with details such as mother’s name, religion, caste, date of birth and date of admission. Schools also have to provide the number of students with Kunbi caste, found in the records from 1948 to 1967, in one column and those with Kunbi caste certificate from before 1948.
The state government has formed a committee headed by retired judge Sandeep Shinde to decide the modalities of issuing Kunbi certificates to Marathas and issuing guidelines to facilitate them. As the committee requires historic data for the purpose, schools in the state are asked to provide the information from old registers of student records.
