MUMBAI: The Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission (MSBCC) interim report on the OBC quota in local body polls supports the state legislation which allows for OBC quota up to 27% as long as the 50% overall limit is not crossed, said sources. The state faces a series of local polls in the coming months, including for 15 key municipal corporations. One of these is the BMC.
Sources said the panel report mentioned that Article 243 D of the Constitution, which provides for a quota for SCs and STs in panchayats, acknowledges that the state can legislate to provide for a quota for the “backward class of citizens”.
Sources said the interim report backs the state legislation on the quota. The state act provides for an OBC quota in local polls with the rider that once combined with the SC/ST quota, the total reservation will not cross 50%. The upper limit on OBC quota will be 27%. If in a district the SC or ST quota is high, OBC quota will be lower.
The SC had scrapped the OBC quota in March. It asked for the state to set up a commission to provide empirical data on the backwardness of OBCs in local bodies. In September, the state issued an ordinance to allow for the quota. Two months on, the SC stayed polls on OBC quota seats since there was no empirical data given.
In the last SC hearing in January, the court said the state should give its data on OBCs to the MSBCC, which should examine it and give an interim report to the court.
