With the Supreme Court allowing OBC reservation in local self-governance body elections last week, the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) is set to have as many as 37 corporators from the category after the 2022 civic polls.
“In all, there will be 37 wards reserved for OBC candidates. Of these, 19 will be reserved for women and 18 for men,” Balasaheb Khandekar, who heads the election department of the PCMC, told The Indian Express on Tuesday. “We have received directives from SEC in this connection today (on Tuesday),” added Khandekar.
As per the Jayant Kumar Banthia Commission report, Pimpri-Chinchwad will have 27 per cent reservation for OBC (Other Backward Classes) category. In 2017 elections, PCMC had 32 corporators from the category.
On Thursday, the PCMC election department will hold a draw of lots to decide the prabhag or panel that will have OBC reservation. For the civic elections, there will be 46 prabhags or panels, each of which will elect three corporators.
After the 2022 elections, PCMC will have 139 corporators, which is 11 up from 2017. Civic officials said the figure of 139 corporators will depend on whether the new state government allows the three-member ward system or not. “If the new government decides to change it to four-member or two-member ward, the number of corporators will change,” officials said.
Khandekar said of the 139 corporators, 22 will be from Scheduled Caste (SC) category while three will be from Scheduled Tribe (ST) category. “Besides, there will be 77 corporators from open category. Of these 38 will be women corporators while 39 will be men,” he added.
Khandekar said the draw of lots will be held on 114 seats. “We will keep 25 seats reserved for SC and ST candidates,” he added.
In all, of the 139 corporators, 70 will be women while 69 will be men.