MAPUSA
The municipal election clock is ticking, but the OBC reservation exercise could become the next pressure point in the tightly packed schedule, with the Goa State Commission for Backward Classes telling the High Court of Bombay at Goa that it needs at least two more months to complete its empirical inquiry.
The Commission says the six-day window effectively available to it after final delimitation was simply too short to collect, verify and finalise OBC population data for all 11 municipalities — a delay that now potentially collides with the court-set timetable for reservation notification and the December 10 election schedule.
The application came up before the High Court on Wednesday, with the court fixing the next hearing for September 23.
The Commission has been tasked with furnishing municipality-wise data to the State Election Commission for determining OBC reservation in the upcoming municipal elections. The High Court, in its August 25 order, had directed the Commission to complete the exercise and submit the required report/data by September 16.
However, in its application filed on September 11, the Commission said it had originally sought 45 days to complete the exercise but was ultimately given only six days following final delimitation. Of those six days, it pointed out, four fell on public holidays—September 12 and 13 being Saturday and Sunday and September 14 and 15 being Ganesh Chaturthi holidays.
The Commission said the compressed timeline had made it impossible to collect and verify accurate contemporary OBC population data across all 11 municipalities.
According to the application, the Commission had written to the Directorate of Planning, Statistics seeking population data based on the 2011 Census, which had been directed to serve as baseline data. It also sought staff and nodal officers from the respective municipal councils to assist in data collection and verification.
But only seven of the 11 municipal councils provided revised population and OBC population details, the Commission said. Pernem, Bicholim, Mormugao and Canacona municipal councils had not provided the data.
Even the information received from the seven councils could not be accepted at face value, the Commission said, as there was a possibility that the actual OBC population could be higher. It said the data would therefore require detailed verification to prevent disputes over reservation.
The Commission also highlighted its limited manpower, stating that it has five members, one contractual administrative officer, two lower divisional clerks and a peon.
The High Court’s August 25 order had set September 20 as the deadline for publication of the draft reservation notification, followed by the statutory 30-day period for objections and suggestions. Final reservation is scheduled to be published by November 9, with the State Election Commission expected to declare the municipal elections on December 10. The election process is to be completed within 25 days, with results due by January 4, 2027.
The Commission has now sought an extension of at least two months to complete the empirical exercise and submit the data required for OBC reservation.
