In keeping with the Supreme Court’s Thursday order on reservations in local bodies in Maharashtra, the Palghar district administration on Saturday canceled the membership of 29 people in the local zilla parishad and panchayat samitis. The Supreme Court on Thursday said reservation in favour of Other Backward Classes in concerned local bodies in Maharashtra cannot exceed aggregate 50 per cent of the total seats reserved for Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and OBCs taken together.
The 57-member Palghar Zilla Parishad has 53 per cent reservation for SC, ST, OBC communities etc, which falls foul of the apex court order. The situation is similar in the panchayat samitis of Dahanu, Wada, Palghar and Vasai in the district, with 56 out of a total of 80 seats being reserved for various categories, officials said.
The order issued by Palghar collector Manik Gursal said 15 Palghar Zilla Parishad members and 14 from the above panchayat samitis stand disqualified, and these seats would now be considered part of the general pool.
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