Maharashtra government should conduct caste-wise census in state: Nana Patole

Former assembly Speaker and Congress legislator Mr Nana Patole on Thursday in the state assembly demanded that the Shinde Fadnavis government should conduct a case wise census in Maharashtra like other state governments.

‘’Caste-wise census is necessary to solve the problems of OBCs, but the central government is not conducting such a census. Some state governments have decided to conduct caste-wise censuses. The Maharashtra government should conduct a caste-wise census like other state governments,’’ he said.

‘’When I was the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, a resolution was unanimously passed to conduct a caste-wise census on January 8, 2020. Maharashtra was the first state in the country to pass such a resolution. After that, other states also passed similar resolutions. I today demanded a caste-wise census in the assembly but the minister did not respond on behalf of the government. So is the BJP government anti-OBC?’’ he asked. However, after repeated pleas, the legislative affairs minister Mr Chandrakant Patil told the assembly that the government took note of Mr Patole’s demand but he refrained from announcing that the state government would hold a caste-wise census.

Patole demands implementation of old pension schemes in Maharashtra

Days after the Deputy Chief Minister Mr Devendra Fadnavis, who holds the planning and finance departments, declared that the state government will not revive the old pension scheme (OPS), Mr Patole made a fresh demand for its implementation in Maharashtra. ‘’The position of the Congress party is that the old pension scheme should be implemented. Our leader Rahul Gandhi has also supported the old pension scheme which has been implemented in the Congress-ruled states of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and recently the Congress government has come to Himachal Pradesh and this scheme is being implemented there as well,’’ he noted.

Mr Patole said that in Maharashtra, however, the BJP government is not implementing the old pension scheme citing that it will put a huge financial burden on the state exchequer. ‘’The BJP government has money to give to the industrialists, so why is there no money to pay the pension as per the old pension scheme to the government employees?’’ he asked.