Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has received complaints against 719 employees for allegedly using fake disability certificates to avail benefits under various schemes, Minister Atul Save informed the legislative assembly on Tuesday.

The divyang welfare minister said that verification of disability certificates has been made mandatory following directions issued by the Centre and the state department, and strict action will be taken in case of irregularities.

"The government has received complaints against as many as 719 government employees for allegedly using fake disability certificates to avail benefits under various schemes," he said while responding to a question raised by NCP (SP) MLA Bapu Pathare.

Save said that complaints were filed against 78 employees in Satara, 46 in Pune and 26 in Latur.

"In Pune district, 21 employees have been suspended from their posts for submitting fake certificates, and two were removed in Nandurbar," he informed the House.

As per government instructions, employees whose certificates are found to be fake or whose disability is assessed at less than 40 per cent will face action under Section 11 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, along with disciplinary proceedings.

The minister said that a government resolution issued on October 9 directed all departments to complete verification of disability certificates and submit detailed reports within three months, by January 8, 2026.

So far, complaints related to fake UDID certificates have been received against 719 employees, and the concerned departments have been instructed to verify the cases and initiate action as per rules, he said.

Only those with benchmark disabilities of 40 per cent or more are eligible to avail benefits such as reservation in government jobs, promotions and other schemes, the minister added.

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Chennai (PTI): Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has strongly criticised the Centre over the women's reservation and accused it of trying to use it as a "weapon" to tackle the opposition before taking up the delimitation exercise based on population.

"The Union government is not concerned about implementing reservations for women. If their concerns were genuine, they could have done it right away. Rather than doing that, the BJP-led Centre is thinking of using it as a weapon to tackle opposition and take up the delimitation exercise based on population," he told PTI in an interview.

"Hence, the women's reservation must be implemented immediately without showing delimitation as a reason," the DMK president added.

Expressing apprehensions on the proposed delimitation exercise, the CM said it was the DMK that raised the first voice asserting the rights of the state after realising that Tamil Nadu would be affected by the proposed exercise. He also attacked his rival and AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami over the delimitation issue.

Recalling efforts made by the DMK to raise the issue of population-based delimitation, he said an all-party meeting and a meeting of CMs under the auspices of the Joint Action Committee seeking fair delimitation were convened. It sought to freeze delimitation for 25 years and stick to it based on the 1971 Census population.

"We urged the union government that states which successfully implemented population control programmes must not be punished," he added. 

The party came up with "Tamil Nadu poradum, Tamil Nadu vellum" (Tamil Nadu will struggle, Tamil Nadu will win) and this is DMK's stand, he said.

"However, Palaniswami, who is seeking votes for the entry of the BJP through the backdoor, has till date been mute over delimitation, and this is a betrayal of the people of Tamil Nadu."