Mumbai: The state cabinet was on Thursday told that the report of the Banthia commission has collated 99% of the information it needed from the local level and the report is expected to be submitted in the first week of June. The commission has been appointed to collect empirical data for the Other Backward Class (OBC) reservation in local body polls.
Food and civil supplies minister and OBC leader Chhagan Bhujbal told the cabinet that the government closely coordinating with the Banthia commission to ensure that the process was track.
OBC reservation and the status of the empirical data were among the issues discussed in the state cabinet meeting held on Thursday at Mantralaya.
Rajesh Kumar, additional chief secretary (rural development department), said that the empirical data was being collected scientifically and the Banthia commission visited various parts of the state and consulted with stakeholders during the process of collating the data.
He told the cabinet that the state government was in touch with the commission.
“After the State Election Commission (SEC) was directed by the Supreme Court to begin the election process in two weeks earlier this month, a similar order was given for Madhya Pradesh too. It, however, allowed the MP to conduct the polls with the OBC quota after the district-wise empirical data was submitted to the court. The Banthia commission has collated data from all 28,000 gram panchayats and has also received the 2011 census data. 99% data collection has been completed and we expect the report to be submitted in the first week of June,” Bhujbal told the cabinet, according to an officer privy to the development.
Speaking to Hindustan Times, Bhujbal said, “We apprised the state cabinet of the status and how we have decided to go ahead with the empirical data. Since Madhya Pradesh’s data has been accepted on an ad-hoc basis, we too can make a similar prayer by submitting the data. We have done even better work than that of the commission in MP, but are ensuring that what MP has done is complied with in our report.”
“The rural development department has assured support to the commission in every aspect. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has also given us a go-ahead and asked us to take all steps required to restore the reservation,” he added.
The five-member commission headed by former chief secretary Jayant Banthia was constituted on March 11 to collate the empirical data as per the SC mandate of the triple test. The commission was asked to submit its report in three months.
The top court had last year struck down the OBC quota in local body polls for the want of compliance with the empirical data to prove the backwardness of OBCs in politics. Maharashtra government is hoping to restore the OBC quota after submission of the empirical data on the lines of the SC order given for Madhya Pradesh last week.