No proposal to raise reservation for OBCs as per population in local body polls: Govt in Rajya Sabha

New Delhi: The Centre informed the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday that there was no proposal to increase reservation for Other Backward Castes as per population in the local body elections.

Union Minister of State for Panchayati Raj Kapil Moreshwar Patil, during the Question Hour in Rajya Sabha, said OBCs are provided one-third reservation under Article 243D of the Constitution.

'However, 21 state governments have increased the reservation up to 50 per cent. The member has sought increasing the reservation for OBCs as per the population in the local body elections. There is no such proposal before us,' he said.

In local bodies, there is a 50 per cent reservation for women. Under this quota, there is a provision to accommodate OBCs, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Patil added.

However, the state governments have the right to provide reservations for OBCs.

'On this subject, the states should take a call at their level,' the Union minister said while replying to another supplementary question.

He said local body elections could not be held in Maharashtra due to the OBC quota issue. The Supreme Court has said that the reservation cannot be increased beyond 50 per cent without empirical data.

About women's reservation in local bodies, Patil said the Centre has made several efforts to empower elected women panchayat leaders, including providing them six months of training. There has been a rise in the participation of women in the governance process, he said.

The minister was responding to queries raised by YSRCP MP Ryaga Krishnaiyya, the DMK's P Wilson and NCP leader Vandana Chavan.

Responding to another question, Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda said the Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan (PM-JANMAN) with a budget outlay of Rs 24,000 crore was being implemented from this year to undertake tribal welfare initiatives.

'It is one of the largest Central schemes targeting the tribal community's development and aims to uplift the particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTG),' he said.

In the previous five-year plans, PVGT groups with less than 500 members were not covered which led to backwardness of many tribal communities. However the PM-JANMAN scheme targets to empower PVGT groups with 100 members, he said.