Maharashtra: Deadline for caste validity extended

With gram panchayat polls due in over 2,000 villages across Maharashtra, the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday approved a bill giving six-month extension to candidates for procuring caste validity certificates. During the discussion on the bill, Shiv Sena MLA Sanjay Raimulkar raised an allegation regarding corruption in procuring such certificates.

The MLA from Buldhana’s Mehekar constituency alleged that a government employee had demanded Rs 1.5 crore from him for validation of his own caste certificate. Following Raimulkar’s allegations, members from both sides demanded that a mechanism to fix accountability of officials for issuing caste validities be devised. Rural Development Minister Pankaja Munde said directives for disposing of applications in time would be issued to officials.

The time extension will be valid for all candidates contesting gram panchayat polls till February 2018.