In view of the forthcoming general elections, the Government on Thursday gave its go-ahead to the amendment of the Central list of the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) to ensure reservation benefits to about 60 castes and communities which have not been able to avail of these so far.
Based on the recommendations of the National Commission for Backward Classes, the Union Cabinet gave its approval for making amendments in the Central list of the OBCs in respect of 60 castes in 13 States by way of inclusion, correction, deletion of these castes and communities.
The amendments will notify 115 changes recommended by the NCBC, an official statement said.
The States where these castes and communities belong to are Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal, and three Union Territories of Chandigarh, Delhi and Puducherry.
Meanwhile, the reservation for ‘Jats’ in the Central Government jobs also moved a step forward with the NCBC deciding to conduct public hearing in nine States before submitting a report to the Centre in February. last month, the Government had asked it to take an early decision on including the community in the Central OBC list.
