Mumbai, Sep 6 (IANS): In a significant step forward, the Maharashtra government on Thursday issued orders for those with Kunbi Caste (OBC) documentary proof from the 'Nizam era' to be given Kunbi caste certificates.

This would imply that Marathas with Kunbi Caste proofs shall be eligible for OBC reservations, fulfilling one of the demands of Manoj Jarange-Patil who is on a hunger strike for the past 10 days in Jalna.

Simultaneously, the state government issued a written appeal to Jarange-Patil that since the administration has published the orders, he should immediately call off his hunger strike.

The response of Jarange-Patil to the GR is still not known and it is likely to be clear later in the day.

A representative of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will call on Jarange-Patil shortly with the orders and the appeal, hoping to end the 10-day long agitation, which started in Jalna on August 29 and spread across the state after the police clampdown there on September 1.

On Wednesday, Shinde had announced that those possessing Nizam-era documents (of 1960s) when the Marathas were counted as ‘Kunbis’, would be given the Kunbi caste certificates to enable them avail the OBC quotas.