EBC to submit report in July
February 23, 2009
The National Commission for Economically Backward Classes will submit its report to the Union Government by July this year, its Chairman Maj Gen (retd) S R Sinho said here today.
The Commission, which was required to submit its recommendations by January, 2008 had already been given two extensions till July this year and had already visited 16 states before coming to Gujarat, Maj Gen (retd) Sinho told reporters here.
During their three-day visit to Gujarat, the Commission held discussions with Chief Minister Narendra Modi, senior bureaucrats and few non-government organisations.
On the current reservation policy and the state government’s stand on including new classes in the backward class category, Mr Modi favoured public participation for uplift of the backward classes and pointed out his government’s approach to develop infrastructure projects hand in hand with a series of welfare measures that the state government has undertaken.
In Gujarat, scheduled castes comprised 7.09 per cent of total population, scheduled tribes 14.06 per cent and other backward classes 55 per cent.
Mr Modi underlined that the manner of defining parameters for determining backward classes needs to be taken up on top priority basis. Over and above, the states should be allowed to define parameters of economic backwardness. When parameters are defined through consensus it may be floated for debate, the Chairman said.
The mandate of the Commission is to elicit the views of state governments and Union Territories to suggest criteria for identification of the economically backward classes and recommend welfare measures and quantum of reservation in education and government employment, he said.
