New Delhi: In May, in compliance with mandatory requirements laid down by the Supreme Court for local body polls, the Yogi Adityanath cabinet approved the formation of the Uttar Pradesh Dedicated Backward Classes Commission to determine reservations for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in three-tier Panchayati Raj institutions. Panchayat or rural body polls in the state have been held up this time as the government has not been able to conduct on time an empirical survey to evaluate OBC representation.With over 12 crore voters (in the 2021 and 2026 elections), the rural body elections in UP are one of the largest elections conducted in the country.Five months after the five-member commission led by retired Allahabad high court judge Ram Autar Singh started the exercise, the Allahabad high court has flagged several questions regarding the manner in which it is being conducted. The court, which is currently hearing a batch of petitions from individuals seeking timely panchayat polls, has on several occasions questioned the state on the underlying cause for the delay.The Uttar Pradesh Dedicated Backward Classes Commission last week informed the court that 60% of the data collection work has been completed, covering 40 districts. It assured the bench that the remaining 40%, pertaining to the remaining districts, will also be completed soon.On October 9, a division bench of Justices Ajit Kumar and Garima Prashad pointed out that according to records submitted by the commission, the number of persons who appeared before it on scheduled meeting dates was far fewer than required to obtain requisite, representative data. Official notices had been published in widely circulated daily newspapers, and questionnaires were issued to individuals who approached the commission during its visits to various districts.However, the judges observed that in Agra, for example, despite the public notices issued, only a very small number of persons – just 179 out of a total district OBC population exceeding 3 lakh – appeared before the commission. Furthermore, even though questionnaires were issued to all present, statements were recorded from only 29 individuals, failing to cover even the small group of 179 who showed up.The commission is tasked with conducting a contemporary, continuous empirical investigation and study into the nature and effects of backwardness to enable proportional, body-wise reservations for identified OBC populations in three-tier Panchayat bodies.Also read: Uttar Pradesh: Political Parties Try Out New Strategies for Urban Local Body ElectionsSince the commission has been undertaking this exercise for nearly five months, the court stressed that it was necessary to understand how it has proceeded so far and how it proposes to assess the backwardness of different castes within the OBC spectrum for its final report. The bench also noted that an Advisory Committee constituted soon after the establishment of the commission had not held a single meeting with the panel to date, with its very first meeting held only on October 12.The high court directed the commission to place before it a comprehensive statement of the work undertaken so far in respect of Agra district, explaining the precise manner in which the panel has proceeded, the caste-wise empirical data collected regarding social, economic, and political backwardness among OBCs, and how it proposes to assess and present that material in its final report. “This will enable us to understand how the commission proposes to proceed with the exercise across the districts to complete the work within the time frame of six months provided to it,” the court noted.The five-member commission was constituted to fulfil the ‘triple test’ conditions mandated by the Supreme Court for OBC reservation in local body polls. Under this formula, before reserving seats in local bodies for OBCs, the state is required to set up a dedicated commission to conduct contemporaneous rigorous empirical enquiry into the nature and implications of backwardness in local bodies.Additionally, the state must specify the proportion of reservation required to be provisioned local body-wise in the light of the recommendations of the commission so as to not fall foul of overbreadth. Finally, the formula mandates that the total quota – combining seats reserved for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and OBCs – should not cross the ceiling of 50% reservation.A similar exercise took place ahead of the urban body election in UP held in 2023. Its findings offer valuable insights into what can be expected from the commission’s recommendations for the rural local body elections. The Wire has a copy of the 2023 report (see table below). In December 2022, the Adityanath government set up the Uttar Pradesh Rajya Sthaniya Nikaya Samarpit Pichhada Varg Aayog (Uttar Pradesh Local Bodies Dedicated Backward Classes Commission) to evaluate OBC representation in urban bodies and gather empirical evidence.The commission, which was also headed by Ram Autar Singh, found that OBCs constituted 37% to 41% of the total urban population in UP. At that time, the panel recommended a 27% reservation for OBCs in urban local bodies alongside strict rules governing the rotation of seats to ensure structural fairness. The commission concluded that OBCs remained severely under-represented in the political arena, particularly within local governance. Although OBCs have been entitled to a 27% quota in local body elections since 1994 – following state municipality law amendments, their actual percentage of representation remained far below that of ‘Upper Castes’ relative to population share. The panel cautioned that if the 27% quota were withdrawn, OBC candidates would fail to secure even 27% of seats. Unreserved seat wins by OBC candidates were rare and occurred almost exclusively in areas with exceptionally high OBC voter density.Because official representation data prior to 1994 was unavailable, the panel analysed five urban local body elections (1995, 2001, 2006, 2012, and 2017). Across 362 urban local bodies (ULBs) and 6,811 surveyed wards, OBC candidates won just 1,356 unreserved seats on their own merits.Also read: As the UP Government Delays Panchayat Polls, Questions of Political Manoeuvring EmergeHaving reviewed the administrative data, empirical field evidence, and academic studies submitted by professors at the Giri Institute of Development Studies in Lucknow, the commission concluded that the economic condition of the OBC community remains significantly behind that of “forward classes”. OBCs face persistent social and educational barriers, alongside chronic under-representation in local self-governance, the 502-page report noted. Across key indicators – contemporaneous educational attainment, economic status, and political representation – OBCs remain vulnerable, it added.During field visits across various districts, the commission received widespread grievances regarding seat rotation policies. The panel received thousands of complaints alleging that specific seats remained arbitrarily reserved or unreserved continuously for three to four consecutive election cycles. There was no district where such grievances were not raised.The commission concluded that the government’s rotation mechanism had been applied erroneously, directly distorting OBC representation and depriving backward communities of fair, equal access to local decision-making processes. For instance, Samajwadi Party leaders complained that the chairperson’s seat in the Prayagraj Nagar Nigam had remained continuously unreserved. In Maharajganj, the Nagar Palika Parishad chairperson seat was reserved for SCs despite having 51% OBC population. The seat of the Nagar Palika Parishad chairperson in Hardoi and Bijnor had also remained unreserved.According to the 2017 and 2022 rapid survey of population conducted by the Adityanath government the aggregate population residing in all the urban local bodies in UP was around 4.78 crores. Of these, 65 lakh were Scheduled Castes, 1.03 lakh Scheduled Tribes, 2.26 crore general caste and 1.75 crore OBC. In percentage terms, it means 13.58% were Dalits, 0.22% ST, 49.43% general caste and 36.77% OBC.In Municipal Corporations, OBCs were 25.58%, in Municipal Councils they were 42.29% and in Nagar Panchayats they made up 49.55% of the population. The father one moves from urban centres, the greater the population of OBCs.Another general complaint received by the commission during its study was that although the population of OBCs has increased in some local bodies, this demographic growth was not accounted for in the rapid surveys. The commission, which was informed by the government that the rapid surveys were based on the 2011 Census, eventually noted that the government data was more or less correct.Regarding the geographical distribution of urban OBCs, the commission revealed that the highest concentration was in eastern UP, where 42.19% (52.12 lakh) of the population belonged to OBCs. This was followed by the smaller Bundelkhand region (spanning seven districts), which registered an urban OBC population of 38.63% (8.66 lakh).The larger western region accounted for 88.38 lakh urban OBCs (37.53% of its population), while Central UP recorded the lowest share at 27.55% (26.57 lakh). By comparison, general category populations in urban areas across the West, Central, East and Bundelkhand regions stood at 48.82%, 59.38%, 44.35%, and 41.08%, respectively.Omar Rashid is an independent journalist.