Ashwani Tripathi, Dehradun. The picture of OBC reservation of wards in three municipal bodies of the state which were backward in the civic elections has been cleared. The single-member dedicated commission constituted to determine OBC reservation has completed the process of public hearing after the survey.
The commission studied the political participation and social status of the OBC class in the three municipal bodies, now the commission will submit its report to the state government. In this, the Commission will recommend how much OBC reservation should be given ward wise in the three bodies. Once OBC reservation is decided, the way for elections in all three bodies will be cleared.
Municipal elections could not be held in Nagar Panchayat Garhi Negi of Udham Singh Nagar district, Nagar Panchayat Pati of Champawat district and Municipal Council Narendra Nagar of Tehri district. The main reason for this was the non-completion of the necessary processes related to demarcation and voter list in these bodies.
In bodies like Garhi Negi and Narendra Nagar, final determination of ward boundaries could not be done, due to which these constituencies could not be notified. Along with this, there was delay in voter list and other formalities.
Due to this, the elections in these bodies remained postponed, whereas the elections of most of the municipal bodies of the state were completed in January, 2025. On the instructions of the Supreme Court, the state government had sought a report from the dedicated commission regarding OBC reservation of wards in the three civic bodies. The commission has prepared the report after study of the bodies and public hearing. The process of public hearing has been completed. After the state government receives the report of the commission, the election process in these three bodies is likely to move ahead.
Commission's report is not valid without OBC reservation
The Supreme Court, in its decision regarding a case in Maharashtra, had said that OBC reservation in municipal bodies can be given only if the state government constitutes a commission which will study the actual political participation of OBCs in the bodies. OBC reservation given without the report of the commission will be considered unconstitutional. After this, the state government constituted a commission and took forward the process of determining OBC reservation on the basis of its recommendations.