Mumbai: The Supreme Court has accepted the report of the Banthia Commission regarding OBC reservation in Maharashtra and the Supreme Court has also directed that the elections should be held according to this report. Moreover, the court has also ordered the State Election Commission to announce all the elections within the next 2 weeks. After this order of the court, the state government got a big relief and the OBC community will now get 27 percent reservation in the local bodies of the state.
Will OBCs get political reservation again in the coming local body elections or not? The hearing about this was held in the Supreme Court today. The OBC case was heard before Justice Khanwilkar’s court. The decision on whether OBC reservation will be implemented in the upcoming municipal elections in the state was to be taken today. (SC Hearing on obc reservation Live update)
The State Government constituted the Bathia Committee to collect empirical data. This committee has submitted its report. According to the Banthia Committee, it has been mentioned that the average OBC population in the state is 37 percent. The Banthia committee has prepared this report based on the voter list.
27 percent political reservation for OBCs has been recommended in the state but the percentage of reservation will be different in each district. There is no obc or reservation in tribal majority district. It has been mentioned in this report that OBCs will not get political reservation in Nandurbar, Palghar, Gadchiroli (except one taluka) district.
obc reservation
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The commission calculated the population of OBCs over a period of months by studying various surveys, statistics and the state government machinery from the surnames in the electoral rolls. Subsequently, the Banthia Commission submitted a 781-page report to the state government, which has since been submitted to the court.
Issues in the Banthia Commission Report
On March 11, 2022, the state government appointed a dedicated commission under the chairmanship of Jayantkumar Banthia to obtain empirical data from local self-government bodies.
The Banthia Commission submitted its report and recommendations to the government on July 7, 2022.
In its recommendation, the Banthia Commission has said that OBCs fall under the category of backward class of citizens and that they are politically backward.
According to the survey report (census report) according to the voter list, the population of other backward classes is estimated to be 37% (percent) in this report.
Although the total population of OBCs in the state is shown to be 37%, it varies among local bodies.
In which local bodies S. C/S. Where T population is 50% there will be no reservation for OBCs. According to this rule, there will be zero % reservation for OBCs in Gadchiroli, Nandurbar, and Palghar Zilla Parishads. Even in Nashik district, OBCs will not get reservation in tribal taluks.
The Banthia Commission has recommended 27% (percent) reservation for OBCs everywhere, while providing that the membership of Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes and OBCs should not exceed 50%.
No OBC became Chief Minister
Banthia Commission has supported the political reservation as no OBC has been the chief minister since 1994 when reservation for OBCs was implemented in the state.
Give upto 27 percent reservation to OBCs
The Commission has recommended that reservation should be given to OBCs up to 27% after reservation is given to Scheduled Castes and Tribes within the 50% limit laid down by the Supreme Court and where the proportion of Scheduled Castes and Tribes is more than 50%, reservation should not be given to OBCs.
