THE Maharashtra Government’s Cabinet sub-committee on Other Backward Classes (OBCs) on Tuesday recommended increasing the non-creamy layer annual income ceiling from the existing Rs 8 lakh to Rs 15 lakh, officials said. Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule, who heads the sub-committee, said that a meeting would be held with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to discuss the recommendation. A proposal seeking inclusion of 43 castes that are currently not part of the Central List of Other Backward Classes has already been submitted to the National Commission for Backward Classes, the BJP leader said.

 

The meeting was attended by Food and Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, Forest Minister Ganesh Naik, Water Supply and Sanitation Minister Gulabrao Patil, Soil and Water Conservation Minister Sanjay Rathod, and OBC Welfare and Dairy Development Minister Atul Save. The committee reviewed several technical and policy matters, including disposal of pending caste verification cases in line with a High Court order, educational concessions for OBC students, appointments in various state corporations, and strengthening of the State Backward Classes Commission. The panel also recommended that district collectors ensure caste certificates are issued only to eligible persons by conducting special camps. OBC leader Laxman Hake, who attended the meeting as a special invitee, said that spelling mistakes in caste names have deprived members of 27 to 32 communities of Government benefits. A proposal be sent to the central government for immediate correction of these errors, he demanded.