WHO BENEFITS
1) Brahmins 2) Daivadnya Brahmins 3) Vaishyas
4) Non-OBC, non-ST Christians and Muslims
ECONOMIC
CRITERIA
>> Annual family income below Rs 8 lakh
>> Family should not own more than five acres of agricultural land
OTHER DECISIONS
TRANSFER OF LAND
>> At Cacora-Curchorem admeasuring 4,000 sq meters to Sanjay School for construction of a new school there
NIPAH THREAT
>> Creation of an 8-bedded isolation ward at GMC as a precautionary measure to quarantine patients who test positive
PANAJI: The Goa cabinet on Monday approved a proposal to give poor sections of the upper caste 'general category' a 10 per-cent quota for jobs as well as admissions to educational institutions.
The move is in keeping with the Centre's decision over four months ago to fix quotas for the economically weaker sections among forward castes who collectively form the 'general category'. The quota is in addition to the reservation quotas already fixed for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, besides the various Other Backward Class (OBC) communitites in the State.
In Goa, the 10 per-cent quota in general category will benefit Brahmins, Daivadnya Brahmins (jeweller community), Vaishyas (trading community), non-OBC, non-ST Christians and Muslims.
The economic criteria to determine eligibility for the quota include an annual family income below Rs 8 lakhs. Also, the family should not own more than five acres of agricultural land.
Mamlatdars and executive magistrates are expected to be given the powers to issue income-cum-asset certificates to applicants for the purpose of availing the 10 per-cent quota.
In another major decision, the cabinet also decided to transfer to Sanjay School which caters to differently-abled students a plot of land at Cacora-Curchorem admeasuring 4,000 square meters to construct a new school there. The land currently belongs to the Education Department and is vacant. It will be the first such school for differently-abled students in South Goa after the campus run by Sanjay School at Porvorim in North Goa.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said a decision has been taken to create an 8-bedded isolation ward at the Goa Medical College as a precautionary measure to quarantine patients who test positive for Nipah infection.
Following a high-level meeting of the health department held in the wake of the deadly Nipah virus surfacing in Kerala earlier last week, Rane said Goans should not panic.
Goa is home to a sizeable population hailing from Kerala and there is significant traffic between the two States.
Nipah virus is zoonotic (transmitted from animals to humans) and can also be transmitted through contaminated food or directly between people, according to the World Health Organisation.
