Mumbai, May 19 (IANS) In a move aimed at widening the safety net for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs), the Maharashtra government’s Cabinet Sub-Committee on OBC Welfare on Tuesday recommended raising the non-creamy layer income ceiling from the current Rs 8 lakh to Rs 15 lakh per annum.

The decision was taken during a high-level sub-committee meeting chaired by the State Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule.

The panel announced that a decisive meeting will soon be held with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to finalise and implement this recommendation.

The sub-committee also revealed that a formal proposal has been submitted to the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC), urging the inclusion of 43 new castes from Maharashtra into the Central government’s official OBC list.

The meeting was attended by prominent state Ministers, including Food and Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, Forest Minister Ganesh Naik, Water Supply Minister Gulabrao Patil, Soil and Water Conservation Minister Sanjay Rathod, and OBC Welfare Minister Atul Save, alongside top bureaucrats.

The panel reviewed several critical policy matters and issued various directives.

While special camps are currently being organised across the state to distribute caste certificates, Minister Bawankule emphasised that a meeting with District Collectors will be held next week.

He stressed that certificates must only be issued to genuine and eligible applicants, and strict protocols must be enforced to prevent any wrongful issuance.

The state will conduct a dedicated review meeting next week to clear hurdles and secure land parcels across 10 districts for the construction of OBC student hostels and departmental offices.

In alignment with the Bombay High Court directives, instructions were given to fast-track the resolution of pending cases with the Caste Scrutiny Committee, streamline educational concessions for OBC students, and expedite appointments to various state corporations, the statement issued by Minister Bawankule’s office said.

Prominent OBC activist Laxman Hake, who was a special invitee at the meeting, highlighted critical administrative lapses.

He said that structural spelling mistakes in official documents have deprived nearly 27 to 32 communities of government benefits.

The committee promised to send an expedited proposal to the Central government to rectify these spelling anomalies immediately.

The government sources said that the demand for Rs 15 Lakh has been a long-standing one across various states.

Proponents say that due to inflation, rising cost of living, and salary hikes (such as those from the 7th Pay Commission), many middle-class salaried families cross the Rs 8 lakh threshold but still cannot afford quality private education or compete on equal footing without state support.

Raising the limit to Rs 15 lakh would bring a massive chunk of the middle-class OBC population back into the ambit of reservation benefits.

–IANS

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