Bhubaneswar: The state Cabinet on Friday gave its approval to amend the provisions of the Odisha Municipal Act, 1950 and Odisha Municipal Corporation Act, 2003 on reservation of seats for chairperson/mayor for Backward Class Citizens (BCC).
The two Acts provide for reservation of seats for election to the extent of 27% in favour of the BCC and in favour of SC and ST categories in proportion to their population in urban local bodies in line with the provisions of the Constitution.
The Supreme Court vide its order on December 17 struck down the reservation for BCC in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh in the absence of empirical data and asked the states to comply with the triple test criteria.
The triple test includes setting up a dedicated commission to conduct empirical inquiry into the nature and implications of the backwardness as regards local bodies in the state, specifying the proportion of reservation required to be provisioned local body-wise according to the commission’s recommendations, and ensuring that reservation doesn’t exceed 50% of the seats reserved in favour of SCs, STs and OBCs taken together.
In view of the observations of the apex court on the reservation of seats for backward classes in urban body elections, the Cabinet decided to amend the provisions pertaining to reservation of seats/office of the chairperson/mayor in favour of BCC in the Odisha Municipal Act, 1950 and Odisha Municipal Corporation Act, 2003, an official release stated.
