Panchayat poll quota: Haryana backward classes panel’s public hearing today

GURUGRAM: The Haryana Backward Classes Commission will hold a public hearing for three districts on Friday to get feedback and suggestions for reservation in the coming panchayat elections.
The commission is tasked with recommending how many seats must be reserved for backward classes. The schedule for the panchayat elections is expected to be announced soon.
“The public hearing will be conducted for three districts — Gurgaon, Rewari and Mahendargarh — from 3pm at John Hall in Civil Lines,” Gurgaon deputy commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav said on Thursday.
Any individual, social group, organisation and association can participate.
Former judge of the Punjab and Haryana high court Justice (retired) Darshan Singh, who chairs the commission, will head Friday’s meeting. In July, the state government had constituted the commission to study the socio-economic conditions of backward classes in Haryana, their representation, participation in schemes, access to benefits and employment opportunities. The panel is also supposed to recommend the proportion of reservation for backward classes in panchayat raj institutions and municipalities in the state.
On Thursday, the Opposition Congress said the commission should make its recommendations soon. “State government should take the report of the commission to the Supreme Court and ensure reservation in the panchayat elections,” said Ajay Singh Yadav, national chairman of the Congress’s OBC cell.