Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray stated on Friday that all political parties have agreed to restore the reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in local governing bodies, and a decision will be made in a week. He was speaking during an all-party meeting on the subject held at the state government’s Sahyadri Guest House here. He stated that another meeting would be conducted next Friday.
Maharashtra’s state administration is attempting to reintroduce political reservation for OBCs after the Supreme Court struck down the previous provision. We’ve all decided to bring back the OBC quota in local government. The state government will look at the various political parties’ suggestions. They’ve all said they won’t hold municipal elections until the quota is restored “In an official statement, Thackeray was quoted as saying.
The next meeting will be held on Friday, September 3rd, at which time we will make a decision “Added the chief minister. After the discussion, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis told reporters that the state government should concentrate on accumulating empirical data on the OBC population in accordance with the Supreme Court-mandated “triple test.”
“The Supreme Court has simply read down a section of the OBC reservation, rather than striking it down entirely. It signifies that political reservation can be restored if the Maharashtra government completes the triple-test procedure. It is something that the state government should concentrate on “According to the former chief minister. According to him, a backward classes commission, which is one of the triple-test conditions, has already been established.
There is no need for an OBC census because quantification can be done on the basis of a sample, according to Fadnavis. The then-BJP-Shiv Sena administration granted OBCs political reservation in 2019.
However, in March 2021, the Supreme Court struck down section 12(2)(c) of the Maharashtra Zilla Parishads and Panchayat Samitis Act, 1961, which provided OBCs with 27% reservation, citing a violation of the 50% overall quota ceiling. If the 50% cap is maintained, OBCs will receive 27-35 percent reservation in 20 districts and 22-27 percent in ten districts, according to Fadnavis. He noted that the situation of five other districts was more complicated because the OBC population in these areas is small. “We need to bring the case before a nine-judge panel, which will take five to seven years to get a decision.”
To protect OBC reservation in the five districts, we may need to pass a new act,” the BJP leader remarked. Following that, Fadnavis spent roughly 20 minutes with Chief Minister Thackeray in the latter’s chamber at the guest house.
