Panel calls for up to 27% OBC quota in Maha’s local bodies

The commission has recommended reservation for all local bodies, starting from the gram panchayat to the municipal corporation, based on the OBC population of the specific area.

The much-awaited report of Jayant Kumar Banthia-led commission which collated empirical data on Other Backward Class (OBC) communities, submitted its report to the Maharashtra state government recommending up to 27% political reservation in every local self-government body depending on population.

Members of Thane Congress OBC Cell organised a rally demanding political reservation for the OBC community (PTI)

The report has been filed before the Supreme Court, which is scheduled to hear the matter on July 12. The commission, which submitted a 700-page report on Friday, has recommended reservation for all local bodies, starting from the gram panchayat to the municipal corporation, based on the OBC population of the specific area.

“In some local bodies, the commission has recommended no reservation for OBC candidates, while in some it has recommended one to two seats as well. It all depends upon the population as there are some districts where Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (SC/ ST) population is high. The state will not be able to give reservation to OBC candidates in local bodies where SC, ST have already occupied the 50% reservation quota mandated by the Supreme Court,” a senior official in the government said on condition of anonymity.

“Local body wise reservation has been prescribed in the report so that the triple test condition mentioned by Supreme Court is complied with,” the senior official said.

Earlier, the OBC community received 27% political reservation in local bodies irrespective of their population in that particular area. As a result the 50% reservation cap, as mandated by the Supreme Court (SC), was often exceeded.

Last March, the SC scrapped political reservation given to OBC candidates in local bodies. It mandated that fresh empirical data on the OBC population be collected, and the trip test for reservation be adhered to. According to this, a panel must be appointed for the express purpose of surveying socio-economic status of population, empirical data should be gathered to quantify the extent of backwardness local body-wise, and the quota that follows should not exceed 50%. The state also provides constitutionally mandated reservation to SC, ST candidates, as well as to women.

The commission gathered data from the electoral rolls obtained from the Election Commission, using a formula adopted by the Madhya Pradesh government whose OBC reservation was also scrapped by the top court last year. The population of the OBC community was determined based on the surnames in the voters list, a method which the OBC community has objected to.

According to the findings, the commission has found that the population of the OBC community ranges from 22% to 48% in each of the local bodies.

Chief minister Eknath Shinde and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis met solicitor general of India Tushar Mehta and requested him to represent the Maharashtra government in the Supreme Court over the OBC reservation matter.

The state government constituted a five-member commission headed by Banthia, former census commissioner of India and former chief secretary of Maharashtra, on March 11, 2022 to collate the data on the direction of the SC. It was given three months to submit its report after an earlier interim report was rejected by the SC in January.

Eom/faisal