Gujarat Govt announces 27% reservation for OBCs in local bodies

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GANDHINAGAR, Gujarat: The Government of Gujarat announced 27 per cent reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) from the existing 10 per cent for the elections in the panchayats and urban local bodies based on the recommendation of Justice Jhaveri Commission report.

The move is expected to pave the way for holding local body polls, which were postponed due to pending quota issues after the Supreme Court mandated that reservation for OBCs should be based on their population.

Rushikesh Patel, Minister of Health & Family Welfare, Government of Gujarat, mentioned that the commission’s report will be tabled in the state assembly during the monsoon session that is to be held in September 2023.

Patel said that based on the report, a cabinet sub-committee recommended 27 per cent reservations for OBC in civic bodies and the recommendation was accepted by the state cabinet.

“Earlier, OBC reservation in local bodies was 10 per cent in Gujarat. On the direction of the Supreme Court, a commission was appointed to redefine seat reservation for OBCs in local bodies. We received the report of the Jhaveri Commission in April. After that deliberations were carried out by a sub-committee of the cabinet,” he said.

However, Patel added, “In the Panchayats Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) notified areas, the reservation will continue to be 10 per cent for OBCs. This is done to protect the interest of tribals.” The PESA-notified areas include 50 predominantly tribal talukas in eight districts of the state.

“Also, the existing quota for Scheduled Castes which is 14 per cent and Scheduled Tribes seven per cent remain unchanged and there has been no breach of the 50 per cent reservation ceiling,” the minister said. “There is a 50 per cent cap on reservation which has been mandated by the apex court. So, we cannot make it beyond 27 per cent reservation for OBCs,” he said.

The Supreme Court had earlier directed that seats to be reserved for OBC candidates in each local body will be decided as per recommendations of a commission following a detailed study.