Justice Sasidharan Commission ready to submit report on OBC reservation for local body polls in U.T.

In what could pave way for the conduct of local body polls in the Union Territory after more than a decade, Justice Sasidharan Commission has completed its report recommending reservation to Other Backward Classes for Municipality and Commune Panchayat elections in Puducherry.

The Hindu has reliably learnt that the Commission has officially communicated to higher authorities in the Government of Puducherry that it has completed the report pertaining to all the five Municipalities and ten Commune Panchayats in the Union Territory for providing quota whenever elections would be held. The Commission has informed authorities that it was ready to submit its report anytime to the government, it is learnt. 

The Union Territory has conducted local body elections only once in the last 58 years. The last local body elections were held in 2006. When the State Election Commission was gearing up to hold local body elections in 2021, the move was stayed by the Madras High Court with a direction to conduct the polls after reserving seats to OBCs.

Following the directions of the Court, the Puducherry government appointed K. K. Sasidharan, former Judge of the Madras High Court, as the one-man Commission on December 17, 2021, to prepare a report on providing reservation to people belonging to OBCs in the local body elections. 

The voluminous report of the Commission has details about the total number of OBC communities / castes in each local body, their vote share taking ward as the unit, besides having the actual number of voters from each caste / community, proportion of male / female population and the largest communities / castes in each ward and their vote share, sources said. 

The Commission in its report, according to sources, has reserved seats for OBCs and SC/ST in all five Municipalities and 10 Commune Panchayats within the 50% ceiling fixed by the Supreme Court. For the preparation of the report, the Commission, with a view to ascertain the OBC population conducted a door-to-door survey across the Union Territory. The survey was conducted utilising the services of 1,300 Anganwadi workers without any additional remuneration. The Commission, prior to the preparation of the report, had held meetings with the general public, political parties and social organisations to ascertain their views.

Chief Minister N. Rangasamy, during the Budget session of the Assembly, had informed that his government was waiting for the one-man Commission to submit its report for holding the local body polls in the Union Territory.