Activist Manoj Jarange has intensified his demands for Maratha reservation, urging the Maharashtra government to declare all Marathas of the Marathwada region as Kunbi, an agrarian caste within the Other Backward Class (OBC) category, and to immediately begin issuing certificates by Sunday. Jarange's renewed push comes as he commenced an indefinite hunger strike on Friday at Azad Maidan in South Mumbai, seeking quotas for the Maratha community in government jobs and education.

Jarange met with a delegation led by retired High Court Justice Sandeep Shinde, who heads a committee formed in September 2023 to determine the methodology for issuing Kunbi caste certificates to Marathas. The committee was initially established by the then Eknath Shinde government to study records from the former Hyderabad and Bombay states, where Marathas are sometimes referred to as Kunbis. Its scope was later expanded to cover the entire state.

During the meeting, which was broadcasted live on Marathi news channels, Jarange asserted that the committee has already studied relevant gazettes for the past 13 months and should now submit its report to facilitate the granting of Kunbi status to Marathas. He has been advocating for a 10% quota for Marathas under the OBC category, arguing that recognizing Marathas as Kunbis would entitle them to reservation benefits in government jobs and education.

Jarange has specifically called for the implementation of the Hyderabad and Satara gazettes into law to support the declaration of Marathas in Marathwada as Kunbis. The Hyderabad Gazette is an order issued by the then Hyderabad Nizam government in 1918, which provided some reservations in educational and job opportunities to the Maratha community under the name "Hindu Maratha".

Justice Shinde, however, responded that he was not authorized to issue such a report, stating that it falls under the purview of the backward class commission. He also noted that caste certificates are issued to individuals and not entire communities. Despite the inconclusive talks, Shinde said he would present the details of his discussion with Jarange to the cabinet sub-committee.

Jarange criticized Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for sending Justice Shinde to negotiate, arguing that it is the government's responsibility to issue a Government Resolution (GR) announcing the reservation. He emphasized that Marathas are not seeking reservation from the existing OBC quota but are demanding their rightful share based on eligibility under the Kunbi category. He has also set a one-month deadline for the government to withdraw cases registered against Marathas during a previous agitation in 2023.

The demand for Kunbi certificates for Marathas has faced opposition from OBC leaders, who fear that including Marathas in the OBC category will reduce the available reservation for their communities. Maharashtra cabinet minister and senior OBC leader Chhagan Bhujbal has demanded a stay on the issuance of Kunbi caste certificates to Marathas and the scrapping of the Shinde committee, expressing concerns about the submission of fake or forged documents to obtain the certificates.

The Maharashtra government had previously ordered officials to issue fresh Kunbi caste certificates to eligible Maratha community members, based on the recommendations of the Shinde committee. As of August 2025, more than two lakh Kunbi certificates have been issued in the Marathwada region.