The Gujarat Assembly passed a bill to raise reservation for Other Backward Class (OBC) communities in local self-government bodies like panchayats, municipalities and civic corporations to 27 per cent from the current 10 per cent.
The BJP government on Friday passed the Gujarat Local Authorities Law (Amendment) Bill, 2023, in the Assembly through a majority voice vote after all the 17 Congress MLAs, including Congress Legislative Party leader Amit Chavda and senior MLA Arjun Modhwadia, staged a walkout in a protest demanding higher ratio of reservation and tabling of a report of the commission headed by former Supreme Court Justice K S Zaveri.
27% reservation for OBCs
On August 29, the state government announced a 27 per cent reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in local governing bodies based on the recommendations of the Zaveri Commission's report.
Earlier, in Gujarat, OBC reservation in local bodies stood at 10 per cent. To increase it to 27 per cent, the state government introduced a bill to amend the relevant provisions concerning reservation in the Gujarat Provincial Municipal Corporation Act of 1949, the Gujarat Municipalities Act of 1963, and the Gujarat Panchayats Act of 1993.
Nevertheless, in regions designated under the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) (PESA) Act, many of which have a significant tribal population, the OBC reservation in local bodies will continue to be at 10 per cent.
Existing quota for SC/ST remain unchanged
Additionally, the current reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes will remain unchanged, and the 50 per cent reservation limit has not been violated, said Gujarat Minister for Parliamentary and Legislative Affairs Rushikesh Patel while tabling the bill in the Assembly.
Congress members insisted that rather than having a consistent 27 per cent reservation applying to all local bodies across the state, the reservation should be determined on a unit-by-unit basis in accordance with the OBC population in those units, such as a district panchayat or a municipal corporation. The opposition Congress alleged the state government was committing "injustice" by giving just 27 per cent when it could offer a much higher percentage.
(With PTI inputs)
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