- The commission’s report will be tabled in the state assembly during the monsoon session slated to be held in the month of September: Rushikesh Patel, Gujarat minister and government spokesperson
- OBCs constitute 49.2 per cent of Gujarat’s population
NE NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, AUG 29
The Gujarat government on Tuesday hiked reservations for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) from the existing 10% to 27% in the panchayats and urban local bodies.
It will pave the way for elections for 7,000 village panchayats, two district panchayats and 70 municipalities. They were postponed due to pending quota issues after the Supreme Court mandated that reservation for OBCs should be on the basis of their population.
The commission’s report will be tabled in the state assembly during the monsoon session slated to be held in the month of September, said Rushikesh Patel, Gujarat minister and government spokesperson.
However, the opposition Congress and the AAP termed it as a move to misguide the OBCs.
Based on various directions of the Supreme Court, Bhupendra Patel-led state government had set up Justice KS Zaveri Commission to determine local self-government wise population ratio. The Commission submitted its report in April 2023 and then it was approved by a cabinet sub-committee formed for the purpose.
According to government records, OBCs constitute 49.2 per cent of Gujarat’s population.
State government spokesperson and minister Rushikesh Patel said that 27 per cent reservation for the OBCs won’t be applicable in districts under PESA – Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Area – Act. In these districts, the tribal population is more than 50 per cent. Here the 10 per cent reservation for the OBCs will continue.
Patel also specified that the quota for the SC/ST remains unchanged and the overall quota also does not exceed 50 per cent. He observed that the Supreme Court had earlier directed that the quota should not exceed 50 per cent.
Elections to two district panchayats and thousands of taluka and villages panchayats could not be held for the last one year as the quota was not fixed.
A week ago, the Congress had staged a dharna in state capital Gandhinagar demanding reservation for these communities.
Gujarat unit chief of the AAP, Isudan Ghadvi alleged that the BJP government decided to give 27 per cent reservation to the OBCs so that it does not suffer any reserves in the Lok Sabha elections. Ghadvi said he feels that the BJP Government’s backdoor planning is to do away with the reservation and if that happens the OBCs would unite and raise voice.
