Former president of the Gomantak Bhandari Samaj, Ashok Naik, has urged the government to reconsider and withdraw the recent decision that removes the requirement of a Samaj certificate for obtaining OBC caste cer tificates. Expressing concern over the move, Naik said the Samaj certificate should re main mandatory to ensure proper identification and verification of applicants. “If the government has is sued such a notification, it must be reconsidered. The Samaj certificate is essen tial so that only genuine members of the community are certified by the authori ties,” he said. He pointed out that 19 OBC communities are rec ognised in Goa and that for many years, caste cer tificates were issued only after verification by the re spective Samaj committees.
Naik strongly opposed the practice of allowing self-at tested Samaj certificates, warning that migrants may misuse the system. “There are instanc es where migrants have adopted Goan surnames to avail benefits meant for locals, causing injustice to genuine Goans. Such cases have been reported to the government earlier,” Naik stated. He argued that by cancel ling the mandatory Samaj verification, the process of identifying genuine OBC applicants becomes unreli able. “Talatis cannot always verify applicants with cer tainty. This may also delay the process and open the door to misuse.
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The Sa maj committees are better placed to confirm the au thenticity of community members,” he said. Naik warned that mi grants using OBC surnames could unfairly access vari ous government schemes, including scholarships and housing assistance. “Earli er, we had to approach the courts to remove the sur names of many such peo ple. There is a high risk of this happening again,” he cautioned. He added that Bhandari Samaj committees operate in all 12 talukas and that caste certificates are issued only after proper verifica tion at this level. “With the cancellation of this process, it is unclear how thorough verification can be ensured by government officials alone. The government must withdraw this order after considering all these implications,” Naik de manded
