Mumbai News: Wadettiwar Demands White Paper On OBC Castes

Mumbai: Leader of Opposition Vijay Wadettiwar on Tuesday demanded that the state government should come out with a white paper on entries of all OBC castes in old records. 

“The Justice Shinde committee has been finding out the records of the Kunbi community in the old records. While doing this they should also search for all other castes from the OBC group and publish a white paper,” Wadettiwar said while reacting to the current controversy over the issue of Maratha reservation.

It would make many things easy for many: Wadettiwar

“OBC communities find it very difficult and tiresome to search for evidence related to their castes from the pre-1967 era. It also deprives many of them from their rightful gains out of inclusion in the OBC group. Hence the Justice Shinde committee should also look for other OBC castes while scanning the old records,” Wadettiwar said, adding that a joint white paper on the issue would make many things easy for many people.

Wadettiwar demanded that the government should make its stand clear on reservation. “While the Maratha community should get reservation, it shouldn’t affect the OBC quota. The government hasn’t made its stand on the issue public. Attempts are being made to generate a rift between the Maratha and OBC communities, which will destroy the state. Ministers in government have taken contradictory stands,” the leader of the opposition said.

Wadettiwar also spoke about the acute shortage of water in several areas of the state. “There is not enough stock in reservoirs. Common people and livestock are facing huge problems due to the shortage. However, the government chose only certain areas under the influence of the ruling combine to announce drought. It is time to announce more drought-affected areas. The government should declare the whole state as drought affected,” he said.