Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik (Photo | EPS)
BHUBANESWAR: Paving way for holding the panchayat elections after February next year, the State government has notified the Odisha Panchayat Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021 which seeks to cap the reservation of seats in the three-tier panchayat system at 50 per cent (pc) for SCs, STs and OBCs.
The Act was passed in the monsoon session of the Assembly recently. Relevant provisions of the Odisha Gram Panchayat Act-1964, Odisha Panchayat Samiti Act-1959 and Odisha Zilla Parishad Act-1991 were amended to keep the upper ceiling of reservation of seats for SCs, STs and OBCs at 50 pc. As per Article 243-D of the constitution, the State government has the discretion of reserving seats for OBCs and accordingly, the three laws were amended to reserve seats for them not exceeding 27 pc subject to limit of 50 pc of total number of seats in panchayats, panchayat samitis and zilla parishads. The provisions of the amended act will be extended to posts of sarpanch, panchayat samiti chairperson and zilla parishad president.
The Orissa High Court had directed the government in an order in 2016 to fix the upper limit of reservation of seats for SCs, STs and OBCs at 50 pc. The government had challenged the High Court order, but it was upheld by the Supreme Court.
