Maharashtra to issue ordinance to ensure 50% quota cap is not violated
The Hindu
It also keeps 27% reservation for the OBCs intact in local civic bodies
In the wake of the controversy over the political reservation for the OBCs in local civic bodies, the Maharashtra Cabinet on Wednesday decided to issue an ordinance to ensure 50% reservation cap is not violated while keeping 27% reservation for the OBCs intact.
The Cabinet cleared the amendment to be introduced in the Maharashtra Grampanchayat Act which will state that while keeping the 27% OBC reservation, it will be ensured that the reservation of all including the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and the OBCs will not cross 50% limit.
The decision comes two days after the State Election Commission (SEC) announced bypolls for seats that have become vacant following the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down political reservation for the OBCs, which was crossing the 50% mark.
Several principals of government and private schools in Delhi on Tuesday said the Directorate of Education (DoE) circular from a day earlier, directing schools to conduct classes in ‘hybrid’ mode, had caused confusion regarding day-to-day operations as they did not know how many students would return to school from Wednesday and how would teachers instruct in two modes — online and in person — at once. The DoE circular on Monday had also stated that the option to “exercise online mode of education, wherever available, shall vest with the students and their guardians”. Several schoolteachers also expressed confusion regarding the DoE order. A government schoolteacher said he was unsure of how to cope with the resumption of physical classes, given that the order directing government offices to ensure that 50% of the employees work from home is still in place. On Monday, the Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) had, on the orders of the Supreme Court, directed schools in Delhi-NCR to shift classes to the hybrid mode, following which the DoE had issued the circular. The court had urged the Centre’s pollution watchdog to consider restarting physical classes due to many students missing out on the mid-day meals and lacking the necessary means to attend classes online. The CAQM had, on November 20, asked schools in Delhi-NCR to shift to the online mode of teaching.