THE Maharashtra Cabinet on Monday cleared a proposal to include three Kunbi sub castes in the Other Backward Classes segment. The move comes ahead of Assembly polls, likely to be held inNovember, andamidstirs from theOBCsaswellasMarathasover reservation. The Eknath Shinde also decidedtocontinuea subsidy of Rs seven per liter for cow milk producers in the State. A total of 24decisionswere takenintheCabinetmeeting chaired by Shinde, an official said. These include the inclusion of Tilori Kunabi, Tillori Kunabi and Ti-Kunabisub-castesoftheKunbi community in the OBC bracket. It will put burden of Rs 965.24 crore on the State treasury.

 

The Cabinet also approved changing the names of the existing Industrial Training Institutes across the State. While most of the names are of social reformers such as Babasaheb Ambedkar, Shahu MaharajandAnnabhauSathe,the proposalincludesthenameofthe RSS idealogue late Dattopant Thengadi, which will be given the ITI in Arvi in Amravati district. “TheCabinetalsoapprovedthe proposal to double the current amount given as emolument to SarpanchsandDeputySarpanchs.

 

It also decided to increase the annual amount of Rs 5 crore given to National Law colleges in Nagpur and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar districts to Rs 7 crore. It approved the establishment of Pune-headquartered Parshuram Economic DevelopmentCorporation.It will offerfinancialaidtosupport educational and entrepreneurial requirements of underprivileged Brahminstudents andyouth,”the officialsaid.“Similarly,theCabinet cleared a proposal to set up the Vir Shiromani Maharana Pratap Economic Development Corporation for the Rajput community. It will offer financial aid to support the educational and entrepreneurial requirements of underprivileged students and youth from the community. Its headquarters will be in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar,” he added. The Cabinet approved an expenditure of Rs 14,886 crore for the construction of a 205 km long greenfield expressway connectingShirur(Pune)withChhatrapati Sambhajinagar. The Shinde government approved extension of leaseperiodto60yearsfor39projects of the MSRTC being developed on Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis.