RAS question
Which of the following is true about OBC reservation in Rajasthan Panchayati Raj elections?
Correct answer: (B) OBC reservation is provided by the Rajasthan Panchayati Raj Act.
Rajasthan Panchayati Raj elections have OBC reservation because the Rajasthan Panchayati Raj Act, 1994 reserves direct-election seats in Panchayati Raj Institutions for Backward Classes.
Explanation
The governing point is statutory, not a general statement that Panchayats have no OBC quota. The Rajasthan Panchayati Raj Act, 1994 defines Backward Classes as backward classes of citizens, other than Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, specified by the State Government for the Act. Section 15 then says seats filled by direct election in a Panchayati Raj Institution shall be reserved for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Backward Classes, and women. For Backward Classes, the Act applies the reservation at each level and links the percentage to the district's SC/ST rural-population share, with a stated upper limit. The 73rd Amendment left OBC reservation to state legislatures, and Rajasthan made that provision through its Panchayati Raj Act.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) The Act expressly reserves direct-election seats in Panchayati Raj Institutions for Backward Classes, so Rajasthan Panchayats do have OBC reservation.
- (C) Section 15 applies Backward Classes reservation in a Panchayati Raj Institution at each level, so it is not confined to the Zila Parishad tier.
- (D) The Act does not make OBC reservation fifty per cent in every Panchayat; it caps Backward Classes seats at twenty-one per cent and ties the percentage to the SC/ST rural-population shortfall from fifty.
Concept
This tests Rajasthan Political and Administrative System through state-level local self-government law. It recurs in RAS because OBC reservation in Panchayati Raj depends on the Rajasthan Act rather than a one-line constitutional formula.