Maharashtra minister Vinod Tawde announced on Wednesday that caste validity certificate for the Socially and Economically Backward Class (SEBC) category was not mandatory for admissions to engineering and other professional courses. The announcement in the Legislative Assembly after the Question Hour. This initiative will benefit students from the Maratha community, declared as socially and educationally backward class (SEBC) by the government.

The Higher and Technical Education Minister said the meeting of the admission controlling authority was held on Wednesday morning under the chairmanship of Devendra Fadnavis. The admission process for engineering and other professional courses for the academic year 2019-20 has already
begun, he said. The issue of caste validity certificate for the newly-created SEBC was discussed during the meeting, he said, adding that there was a shortage of staff for providing the caste certificates.