OBCs form 37-41% of urban population in UP: Govt report

Lucknow, April 11 (IANS) The report submitted by the UP State Local Bodies Dedicated Backward Classes Commission for providing OBC quota for upcoming local body elections, shows that OBCs in the urban parts of the state comprise between 37 per cent and 41 per cent.

The urban population of Uttar Pradesh is estimated to be 4.78 crore.

The 505-page report says that there are 1.76 crore OBCs (overall 37 per cent), 2.4 crore members of general category, including Muslims (49 per cent), 65 lakh SCs (14 per cent) and 1.03 lakh STs.

The commission stated that the economic condition of the OBCs is not good and the community continues to face both social and educational barriers, and has recommended 27 per cent reservation.

According to the report, the population of OBCs is on the lower side in bigger cities but higher in smaller towns.

In 17 Nagar nigams, OBCs account for 25.58 per cent, while in 200 Nagar palikas (municipal councils) and 545 Nagar panchayats (town councils), their ratio is on the higher side as the community members constituted 42.29 per cent and 49.55 per cent, respectively.

Out of the seven political parties that were invited to give their suggestions, the commission got responses from the BJP, the SP and the RLD.

Other parties, including BSP, Congress, Aam Aadmi Party and Communist Party of India did not participate in the survey.

Interestingly, the three political parties were on the same page when it came to offering reservation to the OBCs and were unanimous in demanding 27 per cent reservation for the community, as was the case in previous elections.

The commission pointed out in its report that nobody was present at the Congress party office to receive the invitation.

The commission said that the triple test surveys conducted by the urban development department in 2017 and 2022 were satisfactory.

However, the five members of the commission were concerned about the procedure that the department had followed during the rotation process while reserving seats for the posts of mayors and chairpersons.

Citing the example of Maharajganj, the commission said that the seat for nagar palika chairperson was continuously reserved for SC candidates though OBC constitute 51 per cent of the population.

Similar aberrations were noticed in the rotation process being followed for the post of chairperson in nagar palikas in Hardoi and Bijnor.

The commission noted that the primary grievance of the public was with the way rotation of the seats was being done and suggested that a wider population base should be taken into consideration in the forthcoming elections, a change which the state government has already notified.

The commission headed by Ram Autar Singh, retired judge of Allahabad High Court, included four members -- Chob Singh Verma, Brijesh Kumar, Mahendra Kumar and Santosh Kumar Vishwakarma -- who compiled the report within three months.

The ULB elections will take place on May 4 and May 11.

The commission was formed on the direction of Supreme Court.