Kurubas to get fewer Gram Panchayat seats this time?
Satish says more than 11,500 seats have been reduced for BCM-A and B categories this time
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2015-05-10 06:15 GMT
DAVANGERE: Will Kurubas and candidates belonging to other backward classes (OBCs) get a raw deal because of a flawed reservation matrix worked out by the rural development and panchayat raj department (RDPR) for forthcoming polls to Gram Panchayats?
District BJP leader B.M. Satish told Deccan Chronicle that the state government, which claims to work for the uplift of the backward classes and Dalits and provide social justice to people belonging to these communities, has stifled their prospects at the grass roots level. The new reservation matrix, which would be in force for the next decade, would impact the prospects of Kurubas, Idigas, Madiwals, Savita, Devanga, Uppara and other communities who have been clubbed under BCM-A category while Lingayats with an annual income below Rs 10,000 would be bracketed under BCM-B category. The reservation matrix for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, however, has remained unchanged.
Mr Satish, who claims he has access to the new reservation matrix, and compared it with that drawn up five years ago, says more than 11,500 seats have been reduced for BCM-A and B categories this time. There were a total of 91,402 seats in 5,650 Gram Panchayats during elections held in 2010. Of 91,402 seats, a total of 24,316 seats had been reserved for BCM-A category while about 6,028 seats had been set aside for BCM-B category.
This time, 14,664 and 4,798 seats out of 99, 981 seats in 6073 Gram Panchayats have been reserved for BCM-A and BCM-B category respectively, thus depriving those belonging to backward communities about 11, 500 seats.