Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government is examining the issue of providing reservation to Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBCs) in the upcoming panchayat elections, Panchayati Raj Minister Rabi Narayan Naik informed the Assembly on Tuesday.
Replying to a question by senior BJD MLA Ranendra Pratap Swain seeking 27 per cent reservation for OBC/SEBCs, the minister said the quantum of reservation for the category had been affected by orders of the Supreme Court and the Orissa High Court.
“In view of the triple-test mandate of the Supreme Court of India passed in the K. Krishnamurthy case and following the order of the Orissa High Court in 2016, the state government had to amend the Odisha Grama Panchayat Act, 1964, the Odisha Panchayat Samiti Act, 1959 and the Odisha Zilla Parishad Act, 1991 in 2021, limiting the overall reservation for SC, ST and OBCs to 50 per cent,” Naik stated in his written reply.
As a result, the earlier 27 per cent reservation for OBC/SEBCs was affected, he added. The Supreme Court’s triple-test requires state governments to constitute a dedicated commission to conduct a contemporaneous rigorous empirical inquiry into the nature and implications of backwardness in the context of local bodies. It also mandates that states specify the proportion of reservation based on the commission’s recommendations and ensure that the overall reservation does not exceed the 50 per cent ceiling.
Although the three Panchayati Raj laws were amended in 2021, the state government could not provide 27 per cent reservation to OBC/SEBCs in the 2022 elections to Panchayati Raj Institutions. As the matter was challenged in the Orissa High Court citing non-fulfilment of the triple-test mandate, the government was forced to withdraw the 27 per cent quantum of reservation for the category, the minister said.
