Justice (retired) KS Jhaveri Commission, appointed by the Gujarat government to fix the reservation for Other Backward Class (OBC) communities in the elections of institutes of local self governance in the state, on Thursday submitted its report to Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, said an official release. The Commission, headed by retired high court judge Jhaveri, was appointed in July 2022 to make recommendations to the state government while studying the backwardness of communities in local bodies in detail. The Commission was formed after the Gujarat State Election Commission (SEC) wrote to all the district collectors to remove 10 per cent reservation for OBC communities in the elections for over 3,200 gram panchayats, citing a Supreme Court order. The SC order stated that until the “triple test” formality is completed “in all respects” by the state government, no reservation for OBC can be provisioned; and if that exercise cannot be completed before the issue of election programme by the SEC, the seats (except reserved for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes which is a constitutional requirement), must be notified as for the General Category. In the absence of the Commission's report, elections of a number of local bodies have been put on hold in the state.
