Congress demands 27% reservation for OBCs in Gujarat local bodies, budgetary allocation

The Congress on Tuesday demanded a 27 per cent reservation for the Other Backward Classes (OBC) in local bodies in Gujarat and asked the government to make public the Justice Jhaveri Commission report.

The opposition party also made a strong pitch for a caste-based census.

These demands were made during a sit-in protest organised under the 'Jan Adhikar Samiti' banner by Congress legislative party leader Amit Chavda, state unit president Shaktisinh Gohil, Jagdish Thakor, and others, at the Satyagrah Chhavni ground here.

Chavda said OBC leaders belonging to the ruling BJP were also invited to join the dharna but none came. In a dig, he said it seems 'the BJP leaders are following the directions of their party high command'.

He said the Scheduled Tribe, Scheduled Caste and OBC communities will organise a Mahapanchayat for their rights and protest 'discriminatory policies of the government'.

"We had invited leaders of the OBC community sitting in the government to come to this dharna but no one joined us. They ignored their community and decided not to participate as per the order of their party. If the community has voted you to power, then you should come forward and support them," said Chavda.

He demanded the government conduct a caste-based census, publish Justice Jhaveri Commission's report, and allot 27 per cent reservation to the OBC community in all local self-government institutions.

Chavda also demanded a 27 per cent allocation to the OBC community in the annual state budget, and implementation of reservation to the ST, SC, OBC, and minority communities in cooperatives.

The main contention of the opposition party is the 'delay' in making public a report submitted by the Justice Jhaveri Commission formed last year by the BJP government to ascertain the nature and implications of backwardness in local bodies to decide on reservation for OBCs in them.

The report was submitted to the government in April this year.

The Congress has been alleging that since this report has not been made public, elections to several local bodies have been put on hold in Gujarat.

The BJP government set up the commission, headed by Gujarat High Court Judge KS Jhaveri (retired) last July to collect and analyse data about the nature and implications of backwardness in local bodies, an exercise necessary for fixing the OBC quota in elections for institutes of local self-governance in the state.

As directed by the Supreme Court, seats to be reserved for OBC candidates in each local body will be decided as per the recommendations of the commission following a detailed study.

Chavda also demanded that sub-plan committees be formed to oversee the budget spending on OBCs and sought the reservation for them, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (STs) in cooperative bodies of the state.