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Maha panel report says OBCs form 38% of state’s population
The commission, meanwhile, is likely to meet on February 21 to discuss its proposed statewide socio-economic, political and caste survey
The Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission (MSBCC) on Tuesday submitted its report before the Supreme Court, suggesting the Other Backward Classes (OBC) population in the state was over 38%. The commission also recommended 27% reservation for members of OBC communities in the upcoming local body elections.
On Tuesday, the Maharashtra government said it is expecting the top court will admit the interim report and allow the state to hold the local body elections with 27% reservation for the OBCs. Scheduled hearing on the matter could not take place in the top court on Tuesday.
Earlier, the Maharashtra government submitted data from eight sources, which were analysed by MSBCC before drafting its report.
The commission, meanwhile, is likely to meet on February 21 to discuss its proposed statewide socio-economic, political and caste survey. The proposed survey, which is deemed as a first-of-its-kind exercise in nearly a century in the country, will produce figures of various castes and their social, economic and political status.
“Based on the analysis of the Systematic Administrative Reforms for Achieving and Learning by Students (SARAL) and Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) data given by the school education department, the proportion of OBCs in the state’s population is more than 38%. This is based on the number of students in schools from Standards I to X. However, this is not an accurate estimation,” said a member from the commission, requesting anonymity.
“The commission has recommended that up to 27% reservation may be granted to the OBCs,” the member added, while elaborating that the figure could be “lesser in areas with higher Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) population, considering the 50% cap on quotas”.
The recommendation is in line with the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government’s newly enacted legislation that provides up to 27% reservations to the OBCs in rural local bodies, for which Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has given his consent.
On January 19, the Supreme Court allowed the state government to submit the available data related to OBC population to MSBCC for assessment. The court directed the commission to examine the data and submit its interim report to the state.
Govind Kale, member, MSCBC, said, “We found two data set, SARAL and UDISE, reports to be 99% accurate. According to the SARAL database, the OBC population was 32.9% and UDISE said it was 38%. Other databases varied in their assessment of the OBC population and put it in between 32.9% and 43%.”
“We have submitted the interim report of the commission before the apex court today (Tuesday). It was the apex court’s order that a dedicated commission has to make recommendations, which the commission has made in its report, accordingly we are expecting the court will allow OBC reservation in the local bodies until empirical data is collected by MSBCC,” said a senior official from the state’s law and judiciary department, wishing not to be named.
State OBC welfare minister Vijay Wadettiwar said the government was waiting for the apex court to pass an order in its favour. “In its interim report, the commission has found that different surveys have suggested different percentage of the population of the OBCs but the common thing among all of them was the population being more than 30% and thus it has recommended that 27% reservation can be granted to the community,” Wadettiwar added.
“We have already enacted a law for OBC reservation and that too within the 50% ceiling mandated by the apex court; the interim report is also in place. We are now waiting for the court hearing,” the minister said.
On March 4 last year, the SC stayed the 27% political reservation for OBC candidates citing the lack of empirical data about the exact nature of their backwardness. This put the MVA government on a sticky wicket as the OBCs stood to lose 57,000 reserved seats in local bodies. The elections to 17 municipal corporations, including Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Nagpur and Nashik, and 27 zilla parishads are due this year.
