Maharashtra: EWS Brahmins, Rajputs to get state support

New initiatives by the state cabinet will foster economic growth. File pic

Keeping in view the interests of various sections of the society ahead of the Assembly elections, the state cabinet on Monday passed 24 proposals including independent economic development corporations for the Brahmin and Rajput communities and the inclusion of three sub-castes of Kunbi community in the list of Other Backward Classes (OBC) category.

The caste-specific decisions seemed to be a fallout of the unrest in various communities across the state. There has been a demand for economic support for the weaker section of Brahmins, who fall in the general category of social reservations. Previously, some general category communities were given development corporations. Like Brahmins, the Rajputs also demanded assistance for their EWS. The economic development corporation for Brahmins have been named after a revered deity Parshuram. The corporation for Rajputs has been given the name of iconic warrior Maharana Pratap. Both Pune-based corporations have been given a capital of Rs 50 crore each to support their EWS.

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The inclusion of Kunabis' three subcastes has come on the backdrop of agitations from both OBCs and Marathas, who want their share in the OBCs. Henceforth, Tilori Kunbi, Tillori Kunbi, and Ti Kunbi will be given the perks of OBCs. They have joined Kunbi, Leva Kunbi, Leva Patil, Maratha Kunbi and Kunbi Maratha.

The cabinet also cleared a proposal to build a new Bombay High Court complex in Bandra before the CM and Dy CM attended a ground-breaking ceremony of the same later in the day. In another decision, the 39-depot land of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) will be redeveloped on a build, operate, and transfer basis. The BoT licensee will have a leasehold of the MSRTC land for 60 years instead of 30 years.

A Bandra reclamation land that was allotted to former India cricket captain Sunil Gavaskar some 30 years ago for a cricket academy, but remained unused and was encroached upon, was on Monday given on lease to former international cricketer Ajinkya Rahane for the same coaching institute (see the sports page for more details).

To enhance inter-state connectivity, a greenfield 205-km expressway between Shirur and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar was sanctioned with a budget of R 1,486 crore and the acquisition of 2,633 hectares of land. It will be a BoT project and the cost will be recovered through toll collection. The cabinet also gave its nod to the state's culture policy-2024 which is a revised form of its 2010 version.

24
No. of proposals passed