Govt's quota move may take EBCs

Sachchidanand Jha / TNN / Jan 14, 2006, 02:42 IST

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NDA in Bihar, owes its massive victory in state assembly polls last year mainly to overwhelming support of EBCs.

PATNA: With the NDA government's decision to give extremely backward castes (EBCs) and women 20 per cent and 50 per cent reservation facility respectively in the three-tier local bodies, district boards, panchayat samitis and gram panchayats, RJD chief Lalu Prasad may find his EBCs and women vote bank slipping further away from his party fold.
The NDA, particularly the JD(U), one of the two constituents of the NDA in Bihar, owes its massive victory in the state assembly polls held in October-November last year mainly to the overwhelming support of EBCs (a group of over 130 castes) and a large section of women, and by extending the reservation facility to them in the panchayat bodies CM and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar has obviously tried to broaden the NDA's base in the two major sections of the electorate.
Nitish has reason to be optimistic on this count as out of the 2.37 lakh office-bearers of the three categories of panchayat bodies to be elected this year, EBCs and women will account for over 1.19 lakh posts.
The state cabinet on January 12 approved the decision to promulgate Bihar Panchayati Raj Amendment Ordinance, 2006, to amend the Panchayati Raj Act, 1993, for extending quota facility to EBCs and women in the panchayat bodies.

The very fact that both the Congress and the CPI have welcomed the NDA government's decision to extend reservation facility to EBCs and women in the panchayat bodies speaks volumes about the political significance of Nitish' s move.
BPCC president Sadanand Singh said it will lead to election of a large number of women and EBCs to the panchayat bodies.
But the CPI and CPM have criticised the state government's decision to hold the panchayat polls on non-party basis.

Nitish said the reservation for women in the panchayat bodies will go a long way in their empowerment while deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi claimed that it will bring about a social revolution.
The elections to these bodies, which will held on non-party basis, have to be completed before May 31.
Member-secretary of the Asian Research Development Institute (ADRI) Shaibal Gupta, while describing the NDA government's decision to extend reservation facility to women and EBCs in the panchayat bodies as a "political subsidy", felt that besides empowering women and EBCs at the grassroots level, it may pay rich dividends to the NDA in the next parliamentary and assembly polls as well.
"Due to resource constraints CM Nitish Kumar was not in a position to give any 'financial subsidy' to EBCs and women and hence he opted for 'political subsidy' by providing reservation facility (positive discrimination) to them in the panchayat bodies," he said, adding that the next panchayat polls will throw up 1,600 mukhiyas from the EBC group alone out of 8,500 mukhiyas to be elected.
Former CM Jagannath Mishra said 4,282 women mukhiyas and 19 women district board chairpersons will be elected in the next panchayat polls.
Noted social activist and academic Binay Kanth said the reservation for women and EBCs in the panchayat bodies will definitely empower them besides increasing their representation in decentralised governance.
Kanth, however, maintained that at this stage it will be premature to comment on its political aspect as panchayat elections are to be held on non-party basis and general elections are four-five years away.

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