January 16, 2014

Goa Government approved the proposal to increase Reserva tion for OBC to 27%

manohar-parrikarAFP31

Goa Government on 15 January 2014 decided to increase the reservation of Other Backward Classes (OBC) from 19.5 percent to 27 percent. The announcement of the decision has been done by the Manohar Parrikar, the Chief Minister of Goa after a State Cabinet Meet. The reservation has been given for employment in the government sector and to take admissions in the educational institutions. The decision of the state Cabinet would be effective from the date of its notification in the state gazette.
The government has made the decision to increase the reservation for OBCs following the elaborate survey of the OBCs population in the state and recommendation from the OBC commission. The survey showed about 3.84 lakh people in the OBC category divided in 19 castes of the total population of 14 lakh as per the survey. The 19 castes of OBC also include two castes from the Christian community. The OBC population accounts to 26.6 percent of the state population.
While determining the backwardness status during the survey, the literacy, educational and income background along with job profiles were taken into account. The state has also raised the condition to define creamy layer to 6 lakh rupees from 4.5 lakh rupees, the creamy layer OBCs has been excluded.
Apart from the reservation of OBCs, the state has provided 12 percent reservations for the scheduled castes and 2 percent for the scheduled tribes.
The increase in the reservation of OBCs accounts to the total reservation of the state to 41 percent and this percentage is below the limit of 50 percent set by the Supreme Court of India that can fall under the reservation category.