Release Rs435 cr for OBC commission: Bawankule writes to CM

Nagpur: Former minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule has written to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, requesting to release funds for Other Backward Class (OBC) commission within a week.
The commission constituted under retired judge Anand Nirgude had sought Rs435 crore and requisite manpower for preparing empirical data of the OBC population in Maharashtra as directed by the Supreme Court.
Bawankule, the former BJP MLA from Kamptee, demanded that the commission should finish its collection of empirical data before December this year and submit it to the government so that the OBC reservation in the local bodies is restored by 2022.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government constituted the commission on March 3 after the Supreme Court quashed OBC reservations in the local body elections, clarifying that the 50% quota limit can’t be breached. The government then appointed nine members on the panel on June 15. On June 29, the terms of reference were decided for the commission, and on July 15 a high-powered committee (HPC) was constituted under the chief secretary to help it in meeting its objectives.
After the apex court’s judgment, re-elections were declared to about 100 zilla parishad (ZP), 200 panchayat samiti (PS), and hundreds of gram panchayat (GP) seats by the State Election Commission on July 19. However, these were adjourned due to Covid-19 pandemic restrictions in the state.