Mumbai, Sept. 9 -- Days after Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil ended his indefinite hunger strike in Mumbai, the state government has decided to start issuing Kunbi caste certificates to eligible Marathas during its 15-day campaign to celebrate Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthday later this month. The campaign, titled Seva Pandharwada (Service Fortnight), will run from September 17, which is Modi's birthday, to Gandhi Jayanti on October 2. The Pune divisional commissioner, who governs five districts in western Maharashtra, has asked all district collectors to issue Kunbi certificates during the 15-day campaign. District collectors have since issued circulars directing the village and taluka-level machinery to do the same. "We have directed the revenue machinery in the district to begin the process of (issuing) kunbi certificates based on the (Hyderabad) gazette records," said Solapur collector Kumar Ashirwad. The Hyderabad Gazette, issued in 1918, classified Marathas involved in agriculture within the Nizam of Hyderabad's territory, including present-day Marathwada, as Kunbis. On September 2, the state government issued a government resolution (GR) accepting the gazette as a valid document for establishing Kunbi credentials. This was one of Jarange-Patil's main demands to end his hunger strike. The Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar divisional commissioner, who governs the revenue machinery of eight Marathwada districts, is scheduled to formulate a standard operating procedure (SOP) to issue the Kunbi certificates. "The Justice (Sandeep) Shinde committee meeting is scheduled in the next two days to discuss the steps to issue Kunbi certificates to Marathas as per the recent GR. We have issued about 2.5 lakh Kunbi certificates in eight districts of Marathwada based on the documents collated by the Shinde committee. After the Shinde committee meeting, the commissionerate will formulate an SOP for issuing the Kunbi certificates," said a senior official from the office of the divisional commissioner. On Monday, Jarange-Patil also demanded that the state government begin issuing the Kunbi certificates by September 17, which is also celebrated as Marathwada Liberation Day. "If the government fails to issue the certificates, we will again begin a protest and, if needed, politicians and ministers will be prohibited from visiting our districts."...