In a surprising development, the district election officer reserved the seat of pradhan for Other Backward Class (OBC) woman in Bavasani panchayat in Nalagarh sub-division where there is no OBC family.
Terming it as an act of utter negligence, former BJP MLA KL Thakur said, “It is shocking that in a panchayat where not a single OBC individual resides, the seat of pradhan has been reserved for an OBC candidate.”
Bavasani panchayat has a population of 3,234 people where the post of pradhan was reserved for a woman from general category in 2020.
It was earlier reserved for SC candidate in 2015. In the latest reservation roster, the pradhan’s post has been reserved for an OBC woman candidate, much to the dismay of the villagers who had been eagerly awaiting declaration of the reservation roster.
Demanding its rectification, Thakur said, “When the issue was brought to the notice of the Deputy Commissioner, Solan, he conveyed that as per the OBC Commission report of 1995, the panchayat has a population of 1,235 OBC persons.”
Considering a report dating back more than 30 years for deciding the reservation roster belies all logic as it doesn’t depict today’s reality, added Thakur.
Reservation for the post of pradhan in gram panchayats is based on a roster system, where seats are reserved for SC, ST, OBC and women. While 50 per cent seats are reserved for women, a 5 per cent minimum population is required for a category to claim reservation.
Key rules include mandatory rotation and capping consecutive reservations at two terms. A seat which is reserved for two terms is declared unreserved and vice-versa but it can continue to be reserved if it doesn’t fulfil the mandatory reservation for various reserved categories.
Deputy Commissioner, Solan, Manmohan Sharma, said that while applying reservation roster in the panchayats, the OBC population given in the OBC Commission report of 1995 was taken into consideration as no OBC census has taken place after that.
As per this report, the Bavasani panchayat has 1,235 OBC individuals and considering this number, the post of pradhan has been reserved for them.
He added that the block development officer and the tehsildar have been directed to examine the population of the village and present a fresh report following which the roster would be re-examined.
The OBC population in rural areas decreased from 5.1 per cent to 4.7 per cent as three to four OBC-dominated villages in Doon Assembly segment have been merged in the Baddi Municipal Corporation. These are now part of the urban civic body.
Since their population is less than 5 per cent in rural areas, no seat of zila parishad, which is a rural body, has been reserved for OBCs in entire Solan district.
