Discussion in Chhattisgarh cabinet regarding the determination of procedure on the directions of the High Court in the matter of reservation for economically weaker section of OBC and general category

Raipur: In the cabinet meeting held through video conferencing under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Shri Bhupesh Baghel in his residence office, a detailed discussion was held to collect class wise updated data for disposal of pending cases in the Hon’ble High Court held in relation to providing 27% reservation to the Other Backward Classes and reservation upto 10% to economically weaker sections of general category of the state in public services. In the meeting, it was decided that the updated data will be prepared under the guidance of the Patel Commission, considering the ration card database currently in use in the state. Approval of this data will also be done in the Gram Sabha and the Ward Sabhas of the Urban Bodies.

In the cabinet meeting, it was decided to prepare class-wise updated data through a new process regarding the disposal of the adjournment given by the Hon’ble High Court on the reservation ordinance of the Government of Chhattisgarh. This new data will be prepared using the ration card prevailing in the state as the basis, so that the data of the left out people can also be collected class wise. All the ministers including the Chief Minister Mr. Bhupesh Baghel, said that the database prepared by the Food Department on the basis of the ration card prevalent in the state is credible and talked about including the missing families in this database. Currently, 99 percent of the prevalent ration cards are linked to the Aadhaar numbers and bank accounts of the families concerned. The Government of Chhattisgarh is going to adopt a new procedure to collect completely transparent and reliable data to provide a solid basis for the adjournment of the Honorable High Court in the case of OBC reservation, under which the list of ration card holders currently in circulation will be published publically in the wards of gram panchayats and urban bodies. In this regard, along with resolving the claim and objection, a fresh application will also be taken to prepare ration card of the missing families. The names of ineligible people will also be deleted from the list. The government will also provide the facility of applying online / offline for the missing families to prepare ration cards. In this regard, a new guide line will also be released under the guidance of Patel Commission.

In the meeting, the Secretary of the Food Department gave information about ration card data in the context of Other Backward Classes through powerpoint presentation, and said that currently 66 lakh 73 thousand 133 ration cards are prevalent in the state, with a total of 2 crore 47 lakh 70 thousand 566 members. At present, 31 lakh 52 thousand 325 ration cards belong to other backward class families, whose members number one crore 18 lakh 26 thousand 787, which is 47.75 percent of the numbers benefited. The number of prevailing ration cards in the general category is 5 lakh 89 thousand and the number of members is 20 lakh 25 thousand 42, which is 8.18 percent of the number of members benefited in the state through ration cards. He informed that this database has been collected as per the guidelines of the government from time to time under the process of making and renewing ration cards. This data is reliable. Taking this as the basis, if the data of the left out families is included in it, then the latest class-wise data of the state will be prepared.

Chief Minister Shri Bhupesh Baghel directed to issue new guidelines soon to collect the correct data of all sections. He said that the state government has decided to provide 10 percent reservation to the economically weaker sections of the general class. At present, the number of ration cards issued to the general category is only 8.18 percent of the number of beneficiaries in the state. It is likely to increase with the fresh application of left out families. The percentage of general category is expected to increase from 8.18 to 11-12 percent. On this basis, the basis of providing 10 percent reservation to the economically weaker sections of the general class will be strengthened. Minister Mohammad Akbar and Other ministers including Minister Mr T.S. Singhdev, said that the ration card data prevailing in the state has been collected since 2003, following the rules and procedures of making ration cards and the guidelines and procedures issued by the government from time to time. It is completely reliable. They agreed on the class-wise data upgradation process as per the suggestion of Chief Minister Mr. Bhupesh Baghel.

In the meeting, it was decided to celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the nation on October 2, in a brief manner in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Jayanti program will have programs based on the concept of sanitation, self-reliance, sanitisation of villages and Suraji Gaon while ensuring the maintenance of physical distancing and safety measures and Chief Minister Mr. Bhupesh Baghel’s letter will be read out.