New Delhi, Nov 16 (IANS): The cabinet Wednesday approved notifying changes in the existing central list of other backward class (OBCs) which will help these communities to avail government jobs and admissions in educational institutions.

The decision was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The cabinet cleared this after the National Commission for Backward Classes advised the central government for amendment in the central list of OBCs for Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand and West Bengal, Andaman and Nicobar, Chandigarh, Delhi and Puducherry.

"Accordingly, the ministry of social justice and empowerment would make amendments in the central lists of OBCs in respect of these states and union territories," said a statement issued here.

"The inclusion of these castes and communities in the central list of OBCs would enable them to avail the benefits of reservation in central government services and posts as well as admissions in the central educational institutions, thus contributing to the goal of equity and inclusiveness," it added.