india

Updated: Jun 12, 2019 22:23 IST

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath has cleared the decks for implementing two Central schemes including the 10% reservation for education and jobs for economically weaker sections after meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on June 6, officials said on Wednesday.

The decisions had been on hold because of the Lok Sabha elections.

“The state government continues to implement different schemes for welfare of people and it is a continuous process. Nothing should be read between the lines,” said State Congress spokesperson Durgesh Sharma about the government’s decision.

The meeting between PM Modi and Nath lasted about half an hour during which Nath congratulated the PM on his assuming office for the second time in a row and discussed with him the issues pertaining to MP, a senior Madhya Pradesh government official said.

Soon after his return to Bhopal, the CM announced that the state government will provide data to the Centre for implementation of the NDA government’s Prime Minister Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojna and implementation of the 10% reservation in jobs and admissions in higher education for economically weaker sections (EWS) quota in line with the NDA government’s decision.

A revenue department official privy to the directions given by the chief minister’s office said the department is collecting the data regarding farmers to be benefited under PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojna and their bank accounts. The process of collecting the data from districts and sending the same to the Centre may be completed by June end. Under the scheme, a farmer is supposed to get Rs 6000 every year- Rs 2000 quarterly as a financial assistance for farming.

There are more than 65 lakh farmers who are yet to benefit from the scheme, the official quoted above said.

The MP government had not sent a list till Lok Sabha elections on the ground that the staff of the revenue department was engaged in the state government’s loan waiver scheme implementation. However, BJP had blamed the Congress government for not sending the list in view of Lok Sabha elections.

State BJP spokesperson Rajneesh Agrawal said, “The Congress government deliberately delayed the centre’s schemes in view of Lok Sabha elections but since the elections are over and Congress was routed it can’t further delay the same.”

ON EWS quota, an official said a cabinet sub-committee has submitted its report to the state government on 10% quota to EWS among upper castes candidates in jobs and educational institutions. The sub-committee was constituted when the MP government had issued an Ordinance on March 8 to increase the Other Backward Classes (OBC) quota from 14% to 27%.

The committee, according to the official, has recommended that those having 5 acre or more land should also be given benefit of the 10% reservation provided their land is barren. The committee’s report is likely to be discussed in a state cabinet meeting, which will take a final call on the recommendation. If approved a bill is likely to be introduced in the monsoon session of the state assembly beginning from July 8.

“With the state implementing the Centre’s schemes now it remains to be seen how the Centre responds to the issues raised by the CM during his meeting with the PM,” said an official in the state secretariat ,who was not authorised to speak to media.

According to the official, the CM had raised three issues before the PM. First, the Centre should lift all the wheat procured by the state from the farmers instead of imposing a ceiling on the procurement. Second, the Centre should release funds meant for MGNREGA on regular basis and third, the mining licenses, pending for about one and a half years, should be cleared.

On his return from Delhi Kamal Nath said, “I had a courtesy meeting with the Prime Minister and discussed with him development and schemes pertaining to the state.”