Gujarat Government Increases OBC Reservations to 27% in Panchayats and ULBs

  • August 30, 2023
  • Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
  • Category: DPN Topics
No Comments

 

 

Gujarat Government Increases OBC Reservations to 27% in Panchayats and ULBs

Subject: Polity

Section: Local government

Introduction

The Gujarat government recently made a significant decision to raise the reservation percentage for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) from 10% to 27% within the realms of panchayats and urban local bodies (ULBs).

Quota Expansion for Local Bodies

  • The decision is grounded in the recommendations presented in the Justice K.S. Jhaveri Commission report.
  • This adjustment aims to facilitate the conduct of local body elections, which had been deferred due to unresolved quota-related matters.
  • The Supreme Court’s directive mandating OBC reservation based on their population played a pivotal role in this policy change.

Specific Reservation Criteria

  • Notably, in regions designated under the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) (PESA) Act, where tribal communities are predominantly situated, the OBC reservation in local bodies will continue at the previous rate of 10%.
  • The reservation provisions for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) will remain unaffected.
  • The state government emphasized that the established 50% reservation ceiling remains unbreached.

Constitutional provisions for OBCs

ArticleDescription
Fundamental Rights
Article 15(4)The state is empowered to make any special provision for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the scheduled castes or the scheduled tribes regarding their admission to educational institutions including private educational institutions, whether aided or unaided by the state, except the minority educational institutions.
Article 15(5)This article, adopted in the 93rd amendment in 2005, empowers the state to establish special arrangements for backward classes, SCs, or STs for admission to private educational institutions, whether aided or unaided.
Article 16(4)This provision empowers the state to reserve openings in the public sector for any backward classes of the state that are underrepresented in the public sector.
Article 16(4-A)This empowers the state to adopt reservations for SCs and STs in matters of promotion.
Article 16(4-B)This permits the state to treat unfilled posts reserved for backward classes as a separate class of vacancies that are not subject to a 50% reservation restriction.
Directive Principles of State Policy
ArticleDescription
Article 46This article compels the state to ‘promote with great care the educational and economic interests of the weaker parts of the population, particularly the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and to safeguard them from social injustice and all types of exploitation.
Other provisions
ArticleDescription
Article 338-B
  • The National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) is established by Article 338-B.
  • The 102nd Amendment Act of 2018 conferred a constitutional status on the Commission.
  • The scope of the Commission’s activities is likewise expanded under the new system. This was done to more effectively protect the interests of the socially and educationally disadvantaged classes.
Article 340This article empowers the President to form a committee to evaluate the conditions of the backward classes, and the problems they encounter, and to provide suggestions on how to improve their situation. This was the article that established the Mandal Commission.

OBC Quota in Local Body Polls: 

Local Self Government

  • Management of local affairs by such local bodies who have been elected by the local people.
  • Includes both rural and urban government.
  • It is the third level of the government.
  • There are 2 types of local government in operation –
    •  Panchayats in rural areas
    • Municipalities in urban areas

Triple Test Formula

The Triple-Test Formula, laid down by the Supreme Court in 2010 required the states

  1. to appoint a commission,
  2. collect quantifiable data of the community, and
  3. allocate reservations to them in local bodies in such a manner that the total reservation in each seat does not exceed 50%.

The 2010 Supreme Court Judgement

  • The five-judge Constitution Bench decision in K. Krishnamurthy (Dr.) v. Union of India (2010) wherein the Supreme Court had interpreted Article 243D(6) and Article 243T(6), which permit reservation by enactment of law for backward classes in panchayat and municipal bodies respectively, to hold that barriers to political participation are not the same as that of the barriers that limit access to education and employment.
  • However, for creating a level playing field, the reservation may be desirable as mandated by the aforementioned Articles which provide a separate constitutional basis for reservation, as distinct from what is conceived under Article 15 (4) and Article 16 (4) which form the basis for reservation in education and employment.

Though reservation to local bodies is permissible, the top court declared that the same is subject to empirical findings of backwardness in relation to local bodies as fulfilled through the triple tests.

Gujarat Government Increases OBC Reservations to 27% in Panchayats and ULBs Polity