Maharashtra government to set up sub-committee for welfare of OBCs; gives six-month extension to SEBC and OBC students to submit caste certificates for engineering, medical admissions | Mumbai News

Mumbai: Maharashtra government on Tuesday decided to set up a cabinet sub-committee to expedite welfare measures for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and resolve issues related to job quota, sources said.The state already has a separate ministry for OBC welfare, which is currently headed by a BJP cabinet member.Members of the new sub-committee will be announced after all three partners in the ruling Mahayuti coalition — BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP — give names of their respective ministers, sources said.In Feb 2024, the Eknath Shinde-led govt had decided to give 10% reservation in government jobs and education to Marathas under a separate category after accepting recommendations of the State Backward Class Commission.A cabinet sub-committee on Marathas was formed in 2022 after Supreme Court struck down a 2018 law granting quota to the community as unconstitutional as the legislation breached the 50% ceiling set by the apex court in 1992. Quota activist Manoj Jarange has been demanding that Marathas be given reservation in jobs and education under the OBC category (27%). The 43-year-old activist has announced a fresh round of indefinite hunger strike for Maratha reservation in Mumbai from August 29.Meanwhile, state govt has also decided to give a six-month extension to OBC and Socially and Economically Backward Classes students to submit their caste validity certificate for admissions to professional courses, including engineering and medical, for the 2025-26 academic session. Higher and technical education minister Chandrakant Patil announced the extension keeping in view the difficulties faced by students in obtaining these certificates.