Local bodies polls: J&K Cabinet to decide on OBC Reservation recommendations

Srinagar: The cabinet will soon decide on the recommendations of a three-member panel regarding reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in Panchayats and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs).

Sources told news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that the panel’s report would be presented before the cabinet for a final decision. “The report is being put up for the cabinet decision after getting approval from the concerned ministers,” they said, adding that the implementation of the panel’s findings is expected to be swift once approved.

The three-member panel headed by Justice (Retd.) Janak Raj Kotwal and including Raj Kumar Baghat (retired IAS officer) and Prof. (Dr.) Mohinder Singh Badwal (former dean, SKUAST, Jammu), submitted its report to Chief Secretary Atul Dulloo on February 27.

The cabinet decision on the report holds significant importance as it could pave the way for the long-awaited local bodies elections in the Union Territory. The five-year term of local bodies in J&K ended in January 2014, leaving officials to exercise powers previously held by elected representatives of Panchayats and ULBs.

The delay in polls has been attributed to the issue of OBC reservation. In February 2024, the parliament amended J&K’s Panchayat and Municipal laws to grant reservation for OBCs. After amendments in the laws, the LG-led administrative council set- up a three-member panel to finalize the reservation framework for OBCs in local bodies. —(KNO)