Caste bill okayed, no decision on authority

BHUBANESWAR: The State Cabinet on Tuesday deferred a decision on the competent authority who can issue caste certificates even though it approved the Orissa Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes (Regulation of Issuance and Verification of Caste Certificates) Bill-2011.The Bill was deferred twice earlier in view of  strong opposition by legislators over the provision of punishment for competent authority, who issued the certificate, in case it turned out to be fake.“The Bill has got the Cabinet’s nod,” Chief Secretary Bijay Kumar Patnaik told mediapersons after the meeting. On the issue of who will be ‘competent authority’ to issue caste certificate, Patnaik said  it will be made clear in the rules, which will be framed soon.The Bill would be introduced in the monsoon session of the Assembly scheduled to begin on Wednesday. The Cabinet had earlier put off its decision on the Bill after opposition from some members.Officials of the Revenue department and MLAs are empowered to issue caste certificates. Only the competent authority, which would be named, would be empowered to issue caste certificate once the Bill is passed in the Assembly, the Chief Secretary said.Patnaik said a scrutiny committee would be set up to approve genuineness of the caste certificates. “The scrutiny committee can confiscate or cancel a caste certificate if found to be fake.” The members of the committee will be decided in the rules.Anyone having grievances against the decision of the committee could approach the court, he said. According to the provision of the Bill, any person issuing fake caste certificate fraudulently would be liable to rigorous imprisonment of not less than six months which could be extended up to two years. Similarly, a minimum penalty of ` 2,000 and maximum of ` 20,000 could be realised. Both rigorous imprisonment and penalty could also be applicable depending on the nature of the offence, Patnaik said. The fake certificate issue was one of the reasons which ignited the riots in Kandhamal in 2008.