The Maharashtra cabinet approved one per cent reservation for orphans in government jobs under general category today.

"The decision will help orphans overcome problems faced by them while applying for jobs since they don't know their caste," an official said here today.

With the help of one per cent reservation in the general category, they can get jobs and avail other facilities, he added.

Speaking on the development, Women and Child Welfare Minister Pankaja Munde said, "It will help rehabilitate orphan children and secure their future. Once they step out of the orphanage, they have to face a number of difficulties." 

"Since their caste is not known, they cannot be included in a specific category, due to which they are deprived of educational, economic and social concessions," she said.

The cabinet, in order to give a boost to social and economic development, also approved the Maharashtra State Innovation and Startup policy, which aims to attract investment of Rs 5,000 crore.

An official in the chief minister's office (CMO) said the policy will be an ideal platform for innovative ideas.

With the help of educational and industrial sector, 15 start-up incubators will be set up. The policy will help launch 10,000 start-ups with employment opportunities to all the sections of the society.

“Employment opportunities will be created for five lakh people directly and indirectly,” the official added.

The policy will help create a start-up ecosystem, he said.

In another decision, the cabinet also approved an MoU with Mekorot, the national water company of Israel for setting up water grids in the drought-prone Marathwada region.

The cabinet also decided to rename the Kolhapur airport after Chhatrapati Rajaram Maharaj.

The cabinet also approved a proposal to give financial assistance to gram panchayats, which do not have office building of their own.

For the gram panchayat of villages with population less than one thousand, Rs 12 lakh will be given. For population in the range of 1,000 to 2,000, the gram panchayat will get Rs 18 lakh.

For villages with over 2,000 population, office building can be constructed with own funds or through public private partnership (PPP).

"This decision will benefit about 4,252 gram panchayats," the official said.