In its bid to woo Other Backward Class people along with Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes populace in the run-up to the Assembly polls scheduled this year, the State Government took two major decisions in the Cabinet meeting held on Saturday evening.
As per the decision, now 1950 land records mandatory for issuing permanent caste certificate to SC, ST and OBCs will no more be binding and the same will be issued on the recommendation of the Gram Sabha, a major relief to rural people who had to visit the Revenue Department offices several times besides spending thousands of rupees to get the caste certificate issued, an essential document for availing the benefits of reservation in Government job, education and even a number of welfare schemes.
The second decision of the State Cabinet benefitting OBC population is the extension of ambit of Chhattisgarh State Rural Development Authority (CSRDA) under which earlier only 61 development blocks falling outside Surguja and Northern Area Tribal Development Authority and Bastar and Southern Area Tribal Development Authority were included.
But now as per the decision of the Cabinet, all those areas having 50 per cent or more OBC population and even if they are parts of Surguja and Northern Area and Bastar and Southern Area Tribal Development Authority, they will be entitled to benefits of the CSRDA packages.
Deliberating on the Cabinet decisions, Water and Higher Education Minister Ramvichar Netam told mediapersons that the Government has decided to end the problem of people specially in rural areas by simplifying the procedure of issuing caste certificate and will bring a legislation to this effect during the ongoing Budget Session of the Assembly itself.
The new law will not only relax the mandatory provision of 1950 land record of the person concerned for issuing caste certificate but also make it binding on the authorities concerned to issue it within one month time just on the recommendation of the respective gram sabha.
The new legislation will also enable the Government to punish both officials who furnished fake caste certificate and also those who are serving on Government jobs on the basis of wrong caste certificate, Netam added.
Rural Development Minister Hemchand Yadav, who also attended the Press briefing, expressed the hope that by enlarging the ambit of CSRDA to even Tribal development authority areas a large section of OBC population would benefit from the Government schemes like availing scholarships and admission in nursing institutions.