Govt may submit fresh quota list to poll panel today
Bhubaneswar: The fresh reservation list minus OBC quota for the forthcoming panchayat elections is likely to be submitted to the state election commission (SEC) on Friday. While the state panchayati raj department would submit the reservation list for posts of zilla parishad president in different districts, the district collectors would submit the quota list for posts like sarpanch, samiti member, ward member and zilla parishad members, said an official source.
Most of the districts have completed the exercise of preparing the reservation list without OBC quota. “We have also completed it for the post of zilla parishad president. The list will be submitted to the SEC,” said a senior government official.
The fresh reservation list has been prepared following an observation of Orissa high court that there can be no reservation for backward classes. The high court judgement was in accordance with two recent orders of the Supreme Court.
The SEC has also finalized almost all preparations for the panchayat polls. As the state poll panel has convened a meeting with representatives of various political parties on January 10, official sources said the poll panel may take any decision regarding announcement of dates after the meeting with political parties.
A high-level meeting has also been convened by the state poll panel on January 12 to discuss various issues related to the panchayat election. The meeting will be attended by the district collectors and superintendents of police and senior officials like the chief secretary, director general of police, development commissioner, secretaries of the home and the panchayati raj department.
The poll panel has also been keeping a close watch on the Covid situation in the state in view of the Omicron variant as expert anticipate cases may peak in February.
All the three major political parties have started setting their house in order in view of the rural polls, which is considered a precursor to the 2024 general elections.
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